


The Prince and the Monster

by Zixzs



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Art, Cute, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Flustered, Genocide, Graffiti, Happy, Honesty, Hugging, Intimacy, Love Letters, Magic, Night, Notebook, One-Shot, Plushies, Rain, Rest, Sharing Clothes, Sleep, Sweet, bench, county fair, date, deflection, light world, pretty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zixzs/pseuds/Zixzs
Summary: A compilation of short drabbles involving Ralsei and Susie with varying degrees of romance and fluff. Chapter 13: The Third Night -- The following night after The Walk Home, Kris gains a voice, and Susie asks them a question.
Relationships: Ralsei/Susie (Deltarune)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	1. The Least Crappy Thing we Got

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is just a neat convenient little package of the few one-offs I've done beforehand on places like DeviantArt and Reddit (side note, I also draw a HELLUVA lot of Ralsusie stuff, under the same name I got on this website, Zixzs). Most of (if not all of) the stories I put here have drawings associated with them! Thought to compile all of it into an easily accessible collection. Also might allow for some other one-offs in the future, yeah? If you want a fuller story involving these two, check out my other stories, like "Among the Rough," "ACT Like it," "The Playwright," and "Night of the Hugging Goat-Boy!" 
> 
> Right, that's enough self-promotion. Hope you enjoy these! Have a good one!

"A _what_ in my eye?"

Ralsei paused, one paw clenched tightly to the soft plushie Susie had won for him before, and the other paw clenched tightly around Susie's hand. She was apparently eager to give him things to hold. She was eager in general, it seemed; not the most usual way to describe her, but a good one in Ralsei's eyes. Hence why he'd spoken as such.

"W-well, you know," the prince stuttered out now that his brain caught up with the rest of him. It wasn't often he could attribute any sort of warmth to Susie's demeanor, so the one opportunity given had been seized out of instinct alone. Only now was Ralsei realizing how strangely enamored he'd likely sounded. An explanation was anything but easy. "I mean, with how you talked about your world before, and, uh, you don't usually… um…"

The anxious words tumbled to a standstill. Around them, various flashes and fanfares echoed throughout the fair. Ralsei's introduction to the Light World was apprehensive at best, so Susie had decided to start him off on the right foot and "show him the least crappy thing they got," as she had so put it. That turned out to be some sort of community event within Susie's town; a "county fair." They didn't have anything like that in the Dark World, so Ralsei was especially thankful for Susie's atypical willingness to at least give him the gist first-hand. Susie had her own kind of apprehension, but something about Ralsei's optimism allowed Susie to discard her usual gruffness in favor of actually enjoying herself at the fair. That was when she had real excitement in her eyes, and subsequently when Ralsei had commented on such.

"Don't usually what?" Susie repeated. Her questioning gaze wasn't making things any easier for Ralsei. At any rate, he still owed his friend an explanation.

"I mean," he tried again, shuffling back and forth on his feet. Eventually he'd get there. The bright lights at the ground's height pronounced Susie's features, giving the girl an unusual charisma. Ralsei did his best to continue regardless. "You had a real… sparkle in your eyes."

Something about hearing his statement clearly caught Susie off-guard. She paused, features frozen. Then, her eyes narrowed. Seeing the expression alone would've persuaded Ralsei to (attempt to) explain further, whether or not she'd squeezed his paw tight.

"You looked really happy," Ralsei continued. His voice grew less shy with each word. Not to say it was a little shy throughout. "Like you're really having fun, and… it shows. I, um… like it. Seeing you happy."

While Susie's grip showed no signs of untensing, her face slowly morphed from familiar skepticism to surprise. The odd illumination of the fair surrounding them made it seem more dramatic than the change needed to be. A kind of rosiness deepened the girl's freckles.

"Oh. Uh, yeah." Susie coughed, obviously trying to fall back on that uncaring gruffness she'd discarded earlier. The act was as transparent as wet tissue paper. Not even a shrug could salvage her credibility. "Cool."

Shaking her head, Susie turned around, doing her best to ignore Ralsei's curiosity. A brief hesitation passed. Then Susie continued leading, dragging Ralsei in the process. He followed her, gripping the plushie tighter to himself. His grasp wasn't much compared to Susie's. After stepping in silence for a short while, Ralsei heard a quiet voice call back to him.

"…I like seeing you happy, too," he heard from his companion. "I guess. Whatever."


	2. Staring in the Rain

Of all the things he was happy to discover, weather was probably the most difficult to wrap his head around.

It just didn't make sense to him. Sure, he knew about the supposed "science" of water evaporating, collecting high in the sky, then falling back down, but it was so... inconsistent. The first day, he spent nearly an hour staring at the incredible grandeur of a single cloud resting solemnly in a sea of blue. It was so calm. The day after, a monstrous storm of black and blue swarmed the sky, throwing water down to Earth like a spiteful teenager.

Speaking of spiteful teenagers, Ralsei looked ahead of him and saw Susie standing under the rain, still as a statue. He couldn't make out her features from behind her, but Ralsei hadn't seen her so seemingly calm. The sight almost worried him.

"Susie?" he ventured. Barely, her head moved an inch upwards, and she parted some of the hair from her face. They'd only been walking for maybe a dozen minutes, but apparently that's all it took for Mother Nature to completely drench them both. In that time, Susie hadn't seemed the slightest bit discontent. Not that she'd been explicitly jumping for joy, either, but something about enjoying the day outside placated her well enough to reach a rare level of indifference. Calmness, even.

"Man, I missed this," Susie muttered. Her voice, too, sounded atypically relieved. Ralsei took it as a good thing. Honestly, he enjoyed when his usually violent companion found some semblance of respite. These moments tended to be few and far between. He stepped forwards a little, reaching Susie's side to see her looking up into the clouds above, hands at her side like she was trying to soak up the rain. Ralsei felt himself grin a little.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his nose briefly twitched, tickled by the droplets falling down. Then, he sneezed. Rather loudly.

The noise threw Susie from whatever form of meditation she'd been so encapsulated in. Both of the former adventurers recoiled, and Ralsei lifted a wet paw to his nose, doing his best to rub the awkwardness out of his face.

"Uh," he started sheepishly, now shying away from Susie's frown. So much for respite. "Sorry."

"Mh," Susie grunted. The bangs of her hair prevented him from seeing any sort of frown, but it wasn't the most unrealistic notion. Suddenly, the water soaking into his robe felt much colder and uncomfortable. And to think, he had enjoyed the rain so much a few moments ago. Ralsei brought his arms to his chest, doing his best to preserve what warmth he could. He ended up just making himself colder.

Next to him, Susie observed motionlessly, still refusing to move much. The rain didn't seem to bother her regardless of the calm (or lack thereof). Ralsei, getting the idea he was being watched, shifted on his feet, listening to the steady hiss of rain hitting the grass underfoot. Then he drew back his head and sneezed again.

"Sorry," he apologized once more. He shook his head, flinging specks of water from his fur. One of his paws moved to the back of his neck, the prince embarrassed. "I-I'll just- leave you to-"

"Here," Susie interrupted in her usually gruff voice. For some reason, she spoke so quietly Ralsei had difficulty hearing her above the white-noise of the rain. He leaned in closer to his friend, curious. She hesitated for a second, moving one of her scaled hands to the opposing sleeve of her jacket. In that brief second, she glanced at Ralsei, sizing him up for... something. The girl shook her head, visibly giving Ralsei a full-body eye-roll. Then she pulled her arm up out of the coat's sleeve. The other arm soon followed.

Confused, Ralsei rose an eyebrow, tilting his head a little. Some more water spilled from his fur as an effect. "Susie? What-"

"Just... take it," Susie grumbled, as if she was upset. She now held the coat out in front of her, nearly smothering Ralsei's face with the covering. Not much else was said. The coat itself was more than a little wet, though it did seem less absorbent than the soft cloth of Ralsei's robe. Unable to see much else, Ralsei looked over the clothing, still processing Susie's offer.

"Well?" she said much more aggressively. Just like that, the offer turned into a command. Ralsei reached his paws outwards, lightly grasping the collar of the garment. It was much heavier than he anticipated. He took it regardless, feeling himself smile again as he threw the coat around him. It was certainly warmer than his soaked robe. Curious, Ralsei pushed his arms through the coat's sleeves. Susie let out a cynical snort.

"That's a good look for you," she teased, crossing her arms. Ralsei stretched his arms apart as far as he could. Not even the tips of his claws could reach the coat's cuffs; Susie's more imposing stature meant that her coat nearly reached Ralsei's knees. Suffice to say, it was a little big on him. That did little to suppress his grin. Susie, seeing his smile, visibly eye-rolled again. Then Ralsei noticed her bare arms, and promptly frowned out of concern.

"Thank you for the coat, Susie," he granted, adjusting it to rest more comfortably over him. It was surprisingly comfortable in the first place. Ralsei continued with a hum, absentmindedly reaching a covered paw upwards to feel the rain. "But... are you sure you don't need it?"

Despite probably being the most consistent thing she could experience, Susie seemed surprised by Ralsei's empathy. She shook her head with a shrug, arms still crossed. After a lengthy hum, she glanced back upwards into the downpour. Some of the weather's intensity had let up.

"Eh," she told him. The girl casually took a few steps past him, moving to step up on one of the few rocks adorning the hill. Ralsei watched curiously as she uncrossed her arms to stretch upwards, like she was about to exercise. "Don't mention it. Just wanted to feel the rain, anyways."

She definitely had an affinity for the shower, that much was obvious. Ralsei felt there was more to her reasoning, but didn't move to question it. He hugged the coat closer to his body, simply watching Susie enjoy the weather.

That was when he saw it.

Now, Ralsei tended to be what most would call "naive." He liked to think of himself as more innocent or optimistic, but even he had to admit that few others could match his capacity for niceness. And being so nice, Ralsei harbored a lot of respect for people, especially their privacy. Certain things were just meant to be private; he understood that much. Which is why, when he witnessed the translucent effect the rain had given Susie's shirt, he only stared out of shock and **nothing else**.

Too many details filled his head in the span of seconds. Susie turned to him, feeling his stare, and rose a suspicious eyebrow.

"What?" she questioned. Apparently she wasn't too aware of how thin her clothing could be when it was soaked in rainfall. "Something on my face?"

Immediately, Ralsei whipped himself out of Susie's coat, nearly tearing into the cloth with how strong he grasped it. Not one second later, he sprinted forwards and slammed the coat into Susie's shoulders, not even checking to see exactly how covered she was. His face was too weighted to the ground by the blood in his cheeks anyways. Silent, Ralsei breathed heavily, still pressing his hands into Susie's shoulders. He had to stretch a little to reach her height.

Susie herself stood still, both surprised and a little confused. She glanced to the side for a moment, then back at Ralsei, who seemed especially fixated on her boots.

"Uhhh..." she slowly drew out, unsure. Ralsei took a deep breath, shaking his head.

"Just-" he squeaked out. His voice had a subtle shake to it. "Just keep it. Please."

At this, Susie frowned. A few moments passed. Then Susie let out a grunt, grabbing her coat back and about tearing it from Ralsei's grasp.

"Fine," she grumbled, shoving her arms back into her coat with a certain vitriol. The girl shook her head, her cheeks a deeper violet than usual. "Try to do one nice thing..."

"N-no!" Ralsei instantly responded. He rose his paws defensively, shaking them with a violent fervor. His face was so red, rain seemed to steam off the heat of his cheeks. "Really, thank you, Susie. I mean that- but-"

Again, Ralsei froze, leaving the sound of rainfall to fill in his quiet. His eyes broadened considerably. Somehow, his face managed to get even redder. Then he recoiled with as much severity as before, snapping his head to the side. Before Susie could question what kind of brain disease he'd caught, the prince rose a single hand forwards, pointing directly at Susie. It didn't clear much of her confusion. She looked over herself with an annoyed grimace, still grumbling.

The moment her eyes found what her coat left exposed, her grimace melted away. Susie blinked, staring at herself.

"O-oh," was all she could mutter.

Flushed, Susie shifted her coat, wrapping it over itself like she was trying to fuse the ends together. She hunched over a little, crossing her arms too self-consciously to be deemed normal. Ralsei had shifted to move his hands behind him, his head tilted downwards to face the grass of the hill. Rain continued to fall. Both monsters stood still, neither one of them daring to move an inch. After a considerable length of time, Susie spoke again, her voice nearly a whisper under the hiss of water.

"Let's get outta the rain," she told Ralsei, like she was imitating him in one of his meeker moments. Ralsei nodded silently.


	3. ( * 2 Left)

_"The tenacity to cling to life... the grit to impose your own destiny. Let's call it... a shining willpower."_

It felt like every fiber of her body was trying to rip itself in half. This was more than pain. This was more than misery. This was pure, unbridled agony. Her sheer being, everything that encapsulated who she was, all of it was tearing apart. Shredding to pieces at a level beyond physical.

And yet, she endured.

She stood her ground. Her ax shook, still raised in defiance. Blood dripped from her melting scales to the dusty stone underfoot, but still she stood, ready, determined.

Behind her, the prince quivered in fear, long since run out of tears. She couldn't risk a glance at him now. Even though she'd probably never get the chance again for what remained of her life.

They took another step forward. Before, they were confident; slaughtering everyone they could find with complete indifference. Those that put up a fight, the ones who even _tried_ to fight them, they were the ones that seemed to accrue some kind of emotion from them. She didn't know what to call it. Restlessness. Impatience. Eagerness.

Sadism.

But now, they didn't have that twisted countenance. They looked angry. Frustrated, even. Like they finally found a challenge, and didn't like it one bit.

They took another step forward, sword swaying at their side, the blade covered in a fine layer of blood and dust. For a moment, they tilted their head to the side as if to glance past her. She narrowed her one good eye, spreading her stance to block their view.

Some indeterminate whimpering emanated from behind her. He was in no condition for words, much less a fight. They'd moved past words by this point regardless. He was alive, though. Hurt, but alive. He was still there.

And she was going to keep it that way.


	4. Susie's Notebook

She didn't have a camera.

Well, that didn't tell the whole story. It was true she didn't have any sort of photographing device, digital or otherwise; but she didn't have any kind of camera whatsoever. She'd been told that even having a phone was fortunate enough. Having one with any kind of camera was simply asking for too much, apparently. There was a lot that her parents considered "asking for too much." Which was ironic, considering she hadn't given enough of a damn to even talk to her parents in the first place. They didn't earn that right.

So what was the phone even for, anyways? For them? There was a reason she avoided them. Not to mention that they seemed all-too-knowing that she didn't have any friends to call with the stupid thing, either. Now she did, but they didn't need to know that. It didn't stop her from leaving the device squarely on her nightstand, a thin layer of dust over it. There still wasn't a practical reason to move it, which was evidenced enough by how infrequently it rang in the first place. But that's off-topic.

Point was, Susie didn't have a camera. No way to take pictures and save memories. Before, she didn't have any memories worth saving. Most— if not all— were better off drowning in a roadside ditch of sewer water. She didn't want to remember anything. But now… now there was something. An experience actually worth cataloging. An experience worth remembering. Sure, most of it still sucked— she was a bit of a hardheaded jerkbag for the better portion of it— but overall, it actually ended not terribly. For Susie, that qualified several monuments to the occasion, but even a simple photo would do. Hence where her frustration for the lackluster phone she'd been "gifted" was renewed.

So, she tried doing the next best thing. Sitting there, alone on the frail sheets of her bed, she reached towards her book-bag. It was torn to the point of impracticality, its faded threads begging for the mercy to be split apart once and for all. Ignoring their cries, Susie reached a scaled hand into the backpack's pocket and grasped a similarly faded notebook. The cover was, well, covered in the usual array of profanities and edgy crap that she assumed most bullies wore with pride. Part of her wanted to tear off the front. Another… also wanted to tear off the cover. Huh. Wasn't often she didn't have doubts about that stuff.

One sound of ripping paper later, Susie stared at the first page of her notebook, her eyes falling on the scribbled out name she'd desecrated so many years before in favor of writing her own. Surrounding that were various doodles and scratches of graphite, most of them aimless. A few of them were swears she'd become all-too-familiar with. Others were more drawing-oriented; a knife, a picture of Berdly with a stupid mustache and goatee, a picture of Alphys with a stupid mustache and goatee… wow. She wasn't really original all those years ago.

Flipping the page revealed another set of drawings. A few of them were hard to make out in the pathetic amount of light that her room offered, but there were more drawings of her classmates now. Some of them didn't even have any stupid mustaches or goatees. Still, that didn't mean Susie's younger self was immune to that kind of puerile appeal, so most of the expressions were twisted into a variety of gruesome and disgusted expressions. That wasn't to say any of them were any good. The only reason Susie could even recognize them now is because she knew what the next dozen or so pages would be full of.

An unamused pout pulled Susie's eyelids down. Turning to the next page, she glanced over the tape it'd taken to put this specific paper back into the notebook's binding. The workmanship was about as haphazard and unappealing as her first few drawings were. Rather than those couple of poor portraits of her classmates, the drawings now were not-so-poor drawings of them. Most of them were the backs of heads, some wearing hats, others draping locks of hair over their ears. The drawings weren't exceptional works by any means, but they at least had some definition to them. The kind of quality that a teacher would say, "I can see what you're going for, but…" to.

Sure enough, the next page had even less white space. More drawings of classmates. A couple people not in her class, too. One of them could be recognized as Alphys, giving a lesson on… something. Susie didn't pay attention enough to care then and she didn't care now. Another was of that Noelle girl. More than a few of them had a scratchy "X" over the top of them. Coincidentally, the drawings under those X's were more lackluster in quality. One of the drawings had a rather large circle surrounding it instead, as if that officially brought it above the rest. It wasn't that much better than the others lucky enough to avoid the angry X of Susie's pencil, though something about it still tugged at the corner of Susie's lip to this day.

Susie stumbled over the next page, and knowing its content, maybe that was subconsciously on purpose. Maybe it was entirely on purpose. Susie didn't let the freckles poking out from the paper-spanning X hold her eyes long enough to find out.

Finally, she found a mostly-empty sheet. There were a few pieces of her classmates again. Comparing scribbles of the cover now shredded across her floorboards with the borderline photorealistic etchings, it was hard to believe this was the same notebook she held so many years before. A more impressive fact was that she could even keep track of something for that long, but that wasn't the point. Susie hesitated for a lengthy period of time, her finger pensively tapping against the dried surface of the paper. Her pencil was only a short distance away, waiting.

For one of the few times in Susie's life, the house was quiet.

She wasn't sure when she'd picked up the pencil. Before she could recognize what she was doing, she drew. The dull tip of the pencil scratched against the paper, etching… something. Susie never recognized her drawings until well-after they were finished. Her hand moved automatically, tracing contours, pressing lightly to get just the right kind of gray. The pencil glided with an alien grace, simultaneously certain and unknown. Driving the pencil's pressure was nothing but the one memory Susie found herself holding like a life-preserver. For all accounts and purposes, it very well might have been. How exactly that was represented would take a couple minutes to find out. In the back of her mind, Susie recalled the dozens of sketched classmates accrued over the years. Most of them could be done on memory alone at this point.

Eventually, Susie felt her hand finally lift from the paper, her pencil delicately balancing against one of her many callouses. A shaky breath snaked its way from her ribs; now was the big reveal. Tense, she lifted the notebook to the single lightbulb of her room. Her eyes locked themselves on the drawing.

A spectacled countenance stared back.

Even with nothing but gray, Susie recalled the green of Ralsei's eyes with perfect clarity. The roundness of his glasses matched the jade Susie projected onto his gaze, complimenting his pink horns. There was a unique texture to his fur Susie had done her best to recreate, almost lost to the bright white of his hatless self. The boy was… smiling. A warm expression lifted his features upwards, as if captured mid-laugh.

Susie felt her heart skip a beat, then another as she recognized what the first misalignment implied. This was her memory. All that time in the Dark World, all those people and faces she'd come across, and this was how she recalled it. How she captured and stored that brief moment of happiness in her life. Not through Lancer, or Kris, or any of the other denizens she'd tolerated. She let her pencil talk for her, and it spoke almost too honestly. That was the one consistently happy thing; the only person she could associate with that fleeting happiness the Dark World allowed her.

The thought… scared her.

Susie stared at Ralsei's grinning countenance for what felt like hours. She didn't know if that was the case or not. The girl rubbed a contemplative hand over Ralsei's portrait, careful not to smudge the fresh graphite. Thinking that she paid too much attention to his hatless reveal was only one of many paranoias. The heart-quickening effect of his face alone was another, regardless of what it represented.

At some point in her uncomfortable reprieve, Susie heard the front door to the house slam, shaking some cracked bits of drywall from their residencies. Automatic panic latched onto the girl, and she bolted for the light switch. The room was enveloped with a familiar darkness in the next second. Bedsheets rustled, backpacks were thrown under the bed's creaky springs, and Susie held her breath under the mangled mess of a blanket she covered herself with. Her notebook pressed against her chest like a concrete cinderblock. She waited, counting seconds, then minutes. Hearing the silence continue, Susie released the tension in her muscles.

She pondered for a couple seconds. Careful, Susie glanced from her blanket, one yellow eye darting around furtively. Her gaze fell on the subtle outline of her phone, still closed on the crooked nightstand next to her bed. Another couple seconds passed. Then, Susie gripped the plastic, pulling it under the bedsheets with her. Her thumb found the necessary divot, and she flipped open the screen. A dimness tried its best to blind her, though only got as far as a minor squint. Thank God it still had batteries.

Susie felt the harsh surface of her scales clash against the phone's keypad. Her other hand loosened its death grip on the paper of her notebook enough to lift it against the inside of the blanket, not quite breaching the safe space it offered. As if in a trance, Susie turned the phone around, facing the brunt of its dimness to the paper. Ralsei's smile burned brighter than the make-shift flashlight. Susie found herself looking at that grin for quite a while. It wasn't much longer before sleep began gripping at Susie's eyelids, but she kept her gaze on him all the same. At some point, she dozed off, loosely holding the notebook against her.

For the first time in a long while, Susie dreamed.


	5. * X-Magic: Susie

“God- _DAMNIT!_ ”

Susie whipped her hand to the ground in frustration, the last wisps of blue trailing behind like spirits. She spat another curse to the side for good measure, eyes shunted towards the purple grass as she heard Ralsei’s panicked footsteps ahead of her. The Prince patted down his make-shift dummy as quickly as possible, a few flakes of ash crumbling to the ground from the last couple of scorch marks his friend had burned into the dummy.

“I-it’s okay, Susie!” Ralsei tried assuring his companion. “You’ll get it eventually!” His patience seemed to be syphoning Susie’s, if her exasperated groan was anything to go by.

“The hell am I supposed to ‘get’?” Susie shot back like a viper. Even without looking at her, Ralsei recoiled, feeling the girl’s gaze burn into the back of his head. He pretended to adjust the dummy’s scarf (well, what was left of it) as he listened to Susie’s grumbling. “We’ve been at this for like an hour, dude. I’m pretty sure I would’ve Pacified the thing by now if I could.”

Ralsei sighed. He wished Kris was here. They tended to be better at diffusing things, especially when it came to angry people. Still, Ralsei did his best to placate his irritated friend.

“W-well, sometimes it just takes a lot of practice,” the Prince tried reasoning. He turned slowly, seeing Susie roll her eyes as he spoke. “I didn’t even know I could Pacify until I tried one day, and even then, it took me quite a while to master the spell.”

An irked huff of air left Susie’s lips, blowing some of her bangs out of her eyes. “Yeah, well, I think we know I can’t. All I can do is set the damn thing on fire, and that ain’t exactly a ‘peaceful’ solution.”

The girl crossed her arms, sighing again. Ralsei noted how she sounded more disappointed than angry, now. Her eyes narrowed, staring down her hand like _it_ was the culprit all along. Her words said otherwise.

“Look, Rals,” she began quietly. “I ain’t a peaceful person. Can’t remember the last time I _stopped_ a fight without being a jerk about it.”

Susie paused for a second. “Maybe I just can’t, alright?”

Ralsei’s eyebrows furrowed. After yesterday, he’d been adamant about teaching Susie what he knew about resolving disputes peacefully. Kris’s ACTs of kindness, as effective as they were, couldn’t really be replicated without the human present. Ralsei had a few peaceful spells in his repertoire, and those had come in handy on more than one occasion. Susie, however, didn’t have much in the ways of pacifism. The most magic she knew of was the one Rude spell, and it had swiftly begun collecting dust within a day. There wasn’t much reason to FIGHT, and Susie’s conviction that she could only contribute to violence didn’t do much for her mood. Hence Ralsei’s willingness to try and teach her.

What had started as a light-hearted training session in the Field of Hopes and Dreams had quickly devolved into burns, disappointment, and swearing. Susie seemed to be able to get the first step down, preparing a magical swath of blue and red flames in her palm. When it came to releasing that magic in the form of a peaceful spell, though, the magic essentially misfired into a chaotic ball of embers. Didn’t really send the right message, she guessed. It _was_ entirely possible that Susie didn’t have the capacity to Pacify opponents.

But Ralsei wasn’t giving up on his friend. Determined, the Prince nodded to himself, moving towards Susie’s disappointed countenance. She caught his features, curious at the sudden influx of confidence on his face.

“Come on,” he encouraged his companion. Susie tilted her head, a few loose strands of red hair spilling past her shoulder. “Let’s try just one more time, alright?”

Susie watched him move next to her, facing forwards again. A few quiet moments passed. Blocky leaves above them swayed in the gentle breeze. Then, with a groan so familiar Ralsei could’ve recreated it from memory alone, Susie uncrossed her arms and raised her palm. After another handful of quiet seconds, she focused her willpower. Blue energy materialized in her palm, snaking around her fingers harmlessly as it curled upwards into magical red flames.

Ralsei feigned interest, keeping his hand at his side and out of Susie’s sight. Magic coalesced in his own hand, a bright cyan that bubbled into gold as it rose into the air. Susie looked at her own collection of magic with a disappointed frown. Before she could release it in what very likely would’ve been the dummy’s final seconds of existence, Ralsei cleared his throat, accruing the girl’s attention.

Wordlessly, he raised a hand to her, offering an open palm towards her. His other hand raised the magic into Susie’s vision, lifting her eyebrow a tad. She didn’t immediately take Ralsei’s offer, glancing at her own magic.

“Maybe I can help,” Ralsei explained. He’d read of a few monsters capable of mixing magic before, and while it was kind of a shot in the dark, he was willing to try. The caveat was that Susie needed to be willing, too. At the moment, she didn’t seem to have the most enthusiasm on her features, but Ralsei didn’t let that get to him. He kept his offer standing for a short while, trying again. “There’s a chance we might be able to do… something. I-if we work together, I mean.”

Susie appeared unamused. “‘Something?’” she returned, deadpan. To say she was skeptical was an understatement. Still, Ralsei was unperturbed. He nodded confidently, moving his hand an inch further towards hers.

“Well… like I said, I didn’t know I could Pacify until I tried.” Ralsei motioned towards the dummy’s ashen features. “Maybe we just need to experiment a little.”

All he received in reply was an irritated hum. Susie looked at the boy’s palm. Then, about as slowly as possible, she reached towards his hand. The girl was silent as she moved her hand around his forearm, opting that over his actual hand. Her spiked bracer poked into his wrist a tad. Determined not to slow down, Ralsei moved his own hand around her forearm, white fur gently wrapping around her scales.

The two held each other, one of which feeling a lot more awkward than the other. Susie cleared her throat before attempting to speak. Twice. “Soooo… um. Now what?”

Speaking honestly, Ralsei didn’t quite know himself. He gave an unsure shrug, the grip on his confidence slipping rapidly. “I suppose, we… um, cast a spell, now?”

More awkward seconds of silence passed. Susie would be lying if she said she couldn’t feel the sliver of guidance in her palm, though it was so subtle she could barely even register the feeling, let alone describe it. Maybe she was just feeling Ralsei’s magic better since she was currently channeling her own. That made sense. Probably.

Unsure, Susie reciprocated her friend’s shrug. Her hand lifted itself into the air, raising the blue blaze like it was a lit bomb. Ralsei mimicked her, raising his own bright and bubbly magic upwards. The dummy waited. Concentrating, they tensed their fingers, the magic in their hands condensing in tandem.

Susie held her breath. A yellow glow underfoot attracted her eyes to the grass. Ralsei glanced downwards himself, seeing a faint light lace through the purple blades like liquid gold. Surprised, his eyebrows raised, and he looked to Susie’s features. The girl scanned the yellow ring slowly surrounding them, interwoven with a bright scarlet akin to the magic trailing from Susie’s hand. Her own surprised visage moved to Ralsei’s. They stared for a few moments.

“Do you… feel that?” Susie asked. That subtle guidance she felt from before had intensified, filling her chest with an unfamiliar feeling. Unfamiliar, and yet… pleasant. Encouraging. Warm. The frustration she held just a minute ago now seemed like a distant memory. Maybe she _did_ have some peaceful bones in her body.

Ralsei only nodded in response, a similar feeling permeating his own chest. Not that he could tell exactly what the feeling meant. Even with his experience, the magic mixture he’d shared with Susie was too unfamiliar to direct. Though, maybe Ralsei didn’t need to direct it. There was enough warmth for him to forgo his usual anxieties, at the very least. Ralsei hummed, accruing Susie’s attention. He motioned towards the magic in his hand with his shoulder, bumping the length of his ear in the process.

Susie hummed back as a form of answer. Evidently, she didn’t know exactly what to do with the agreeable feeling, though that didn’t stop her from raising her palm further into the air. Her grip on Ralsei intensified, giving him enough of a sign to bring his own palm higher. With one last nod, both monster and Prince put forth a burst of willpower, and the golden ring at their feet exploded into a harmless shower of magical flames.

  * **Ralsei and Susie cast Bravery! Their Defense and HP increased!**



Susie blinked as the magical flames floated through the air, cooling into a warm red before dissipating entirely. The yellow light faded with the magic, leaving them in the neutral rays of the forest. Ralsei watched the lingering licks of magic with pride, feeling more than ready for any encounter.

“That was amazing, Susie!” he immediately exclaimed. The Prince turned towards his companion, practically jumping with joy. “That’s an incredible spell!”

Susie was still in awe that she hadn’t set them both on fire. If it wasn’t for the strength their spell had filled her with, she’d be double-checking that Ralsei’s robe wasn’t in the process of going up in smoke. Heck, even with the magical bolstering, she was still a little skeptical that she was capable of casting something useful.

“Y-yeah,” she tried playing off. Her eyes tied themselves to her hand. Susie felt herself relax, ultimately unable to suppress the grin she felt tugging at the corners of her lips. That much likely wasn’t due to some magical shenanigans. “No biggie.”


	6. The Walk Home

The day was quiet. Warm light weaved through the trees like snakes, dappling the grass underfoot in a vivid pattern of foliage. A gentle breeze swayed the branches above, golden leaves gliding to the earth one at a time. While the forest was usually silent, the late hour of sundown evacuated what residents of Hometown might’ve remained, and only the ambient chirping of birds and bugs could be heard.

That, and the voracious laughter of one former bully.

“Bahaha!” Susie let out, nearly doubling over as she strode through the trees. Her companions chuckled in their own ways; Kris gave out their faint form of laughs with a smirk so subtle it was nearly invisible, while Ralsei giggled through a broad smile that threatened to ache his cheeks. The grass was soft under his hooves as he continued, trying to finish his story through a cascade of chuckles.

“It’s true, though!” he pushed. “He ate the _entire thing._ Box and all.”

Susie’s laughs lingered for a tad longer, the girl wiping at the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d managed to laugh like that. And from _Ralsei,_ no less. After a few more seconds of recomposing herself, she shook her head, smirking at Ralsei all the way. Her eyes drifted up towards the yellow leaves above as she spoke with an audible grin.

“Whoo, boy,” she let out with a sigh. “And he didn’t even open it? Just, like-” -she feigned taking a massive chomp out of the air in front of her- “-down the hatch?”

“Mhm,” Ralsei hummed. He adjusted his glasses for a moment, fitting them back over his snout from the convulsions that had first budged them out of place. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of his subjects, but… it was meant to feed _everyone._ No one else said anything, either!”

A few more laughs broke through the trees, scattering the few birds that hadn’t yet vacated from the draconic chuckling. Kris shook their head in mock disapproval. Ahead, the mound of grass grew closer like an ancient turtle. Susie paid it no mind, still talking to Ralsei with a grin cemented on her face.

“Man, we have _got_ to hang out more often,” she told him. In her usually physical fashion, the girl gave a playful slug on Ralsei’s shoulder, probably a bit harder than she needed to. Ralsei didn’t seem all that offended by the force, laughing it off as he listened to Susie. “Why didn’t you tell me you had all these stories n’ stuff?”

Ralsei shrugged, cheeks raised in his own persistent smile. Hearing the prospect of more time with his best friends was incredible enough; hearing _Susie_ admit as much was almost too good to be true. “I suppose we were too busy saving the world,” he replied, still subconsciously rubbing his shoulder. “But I would love to spend more time with you both! You’re, um, very good friends.”

Kris nodded coolly, stretching their arms into the warm air. As neutral and hard to read as they tended to be, there was a definite pep in their step that wasn’t lost on either one of their companions. Not even a casual glance away could hide as much. Susie, on the other hand, was far more open about her content, reaching a hand up to her hair in some subconscious effort. Her fingers fiddled a little with the green hair-clip keeping her more intrusive bangs out of her face.

“Hey, likewise,” she responded to Ralsei with a far more certain nod than the one Kris had hesitated to give. The plastic felt too comforting to her fingertips than any accessory had any right to be, but she stopped caring about the extent of those feelings a while ago. The three Delta Warriors slowed as they finally came up on the forest clearing. Around them, birds seemed to quiet as they looked over the lump of grass in the clearing’s center.

Similarly, each of them fell to silence, their grins gradually fading. Susie stopped entirely, her under-sized shoes shuffling in place. Kris took about one more step before they, too, halted. Despite Ralsei being the only Darkener between the three, he also stopped. His eyes moved between his friends, unsure. The harsh fall back into the Dark World was a walk in the park compared to this part.

“W-well…” he began quietly. One of his hands moved to rub the opposing arm in a nervous habit he’d been unable to strike down since… ever, really. Susie looked atypically anxious for someone who was laughing so hard just a minute ago. Her eyes scanned the leaves for some kind of assurance. Before Ralsei could say his goodbye, she suddenly turned to him.

“Same time tomorrow?” she blurted out, like she remembered the last necessary letter to take home the spelling bee in the nick of time. Kris tilted their head in confusion, mouth slightly agape. Ralsei reacted similarly, blinking as he processed the three words. Then, he visibly relaxed, his smile warmer than the forest around them.

“Of course!” he nodded enthusiastically. His ears bounced almost as much as his scarf. The answer seemed to put Susie at ease, her tense anxiety melting away. Kris had regained their subtle smirk like it had never been lost in the first place. Reinvigorated by Susie’s request, Ralsei stepped towards his two best friends, arms outstretched. A furry grasp pulled each of them in an abrupt embrace, surprisingly forceful (especially considering the gap in stature between the three of them).

Susie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, already feeling her face grow warm at the light intimacy. Kris’s own features froze for a moment, not expecting the softness of Ralsei’s grasp. Silence reigned once again, less disappointed and more startled. Seconds passed.

Then, as abruptly as the contact had been initiated with, Ralsei let go, stepping backwards and nearly tripping over his own legs in the process. A light pink tinted his cheeks despite the sunlight’s best efforts to neutralize such a sight. He tried recomposing himself for a few seconds too long to be all that natural looking.

“U-um,” he stuttered out. “I suppose I… I’ll, um, see you both tomorrow, then! H-heh.”

Another awkward couple of seconds passed. Then Ralsei forced his legs into movement, turning around and speed-walking towards the red doors on the other side of the grassy hill. Susie watched him in silence, cheeks still warm like she had pulled her jacket up around her entire head. She was kind of considering doing that, honestly, if the shock of Ralsei’s hug hadn’t left her frozen. Kris looked physically itchy without moving a muscle. Not even the echoing _CLANG_ of the door shutting brought them out of their stupor.

Eventually, the sound of birds reached Kris’s ears, and they shook off the hug as best as they could. Susie did, too, but she was far less experienced with “acting natural.” Carefully, she glanced at Kris, who was already turning around to trace their path back through the forest. Her face took that as a sign of privacy, and she allowed herself one enthusiastic smile before turning around herself.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.


	7. Ralsei's Letters

_”Hello Kris! I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to write and say how much I enjoyed adventuring with you! I know that it’s a big task ahead of us, but you make an excellent hero! Many would try and take the easier, violent path, but your heroism and devotion to peace is truly inspiring. Plus, I had a lot of fun! I hope we can continue our quest soon as the best of friends!”_

_”Hello again, Lancer! It’s me, Ralsei. I hope there is no more ‘bad blood’ between us, since we helped, er, overthrow your father’s tyranny. If it’s okay with you, I would like to bake a peace cake to celebrate your new rule and bridge the gap between our two kingdoms. Perhaps we could even hold some sort of feast! You could bring your, um, salsa, too. I think that would be very fun! I wish you luck as the new King!”_

~~_”Hello Susie! It’s--”_ ~~

~~_”Hi, Susie! My name is Ralsei, though you obviously already knew--”_ ~~

~~_”Greetings, S--”_ ~~

_”Hi Susie! This is Ralsei writing. I wanted you to know that despite our disagreements, I think you’re a very good hero still. You’re very strong, after all! (That was a joke (not that you’re not strong) because there are more defining qualities to being a hero than strength (but you’re not a hero solely because of your strength (but you are still a good hero regardless of strength))) I apologize again for being too harsh on you from before. I hope we can move past it and be good friends, because I would like that very much! I enjoyed spending time with you and adventuring as a group of ~~pals~~ ~~acquaintances~~ ~~companions~~ ~~pals~~ friends. Do you remember when we tried to flirt with those Hathys? That was very funny! And, um, completing puzzles together was also fun._

_“I also want to apologize for mumbling from before. I never really had friends before and I, um, get nervous sometimes. I even write ‘um’ in my letters as if I was stuttering out loud! Haha. But I will try to speak clearer in the future. Communication is important between friends, after all! You probably don’t ever get nervous or stutter, since you’re very brave and strong. Do you remember when we met Jevil? Oh, that was horrible! He seemed to attack me far too much. But you helped us tire him out and pacify him, despite all that danger! That was very brave of you!_

_”Oh! What kind of cakes do you like, by the way? I really like chocolate, but vanilla can be very sweet too. A good cheesecake is also delicious! Strawberry is definitely my favorite flavor, though. I may have to go shopping since I am currently low on ingredients but I’d be more than happy to pick up whatever you might want. I really enjoy baking; it’s both delicious and fun! Do you like baking? Maybe we could bake a cake together! Wouldn’t that be great?_

_”Haha, sorry, this is a long letter. I should wrap things up. I believe I mentioned it before but I am still new to having friends. Do you have lots of friends from where you come from? I’m sure many people like you! You’re very strong, like I said, and you can be quite fun sometimes. Plus, you look quite ‘cool,’ I think. Lancer sure likes you a lot, haha! Kris and I do, too! I’d love to meet some of your other friends! I don’t know if I can leave the Dark World, but we could set up a fun get-together here in my castle!_

_”I’m running out of paper so I will wrap this up now. Overall, I think you are very cool and strong, and we can be very very good friends! I hope you are well and I look forward to meeting you again very much.”_

_-Ralsei ~~< 3~~_


	8. The Second Day

“Can I open my eyes, now?”

“Just a sec, dude! Jeez, I figured I was the impatient one…”

“W-we’ve been walking for ten minutes!”

“Only eight and a half! I’ve been counting.”

Ralsei sighed, still opting to give Susie the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t often she got excited about something; even less often did she want to hike for so long. Ralsei didn’t have the heart to tell her that he could at least smell the forest surrounding them, picking up those arboreous scents of leaves and bugs in the setting sun. Birds chipped all around him, some calls being lost to the gentle wind swaying all the scents around. Still, if Susie wanted to keep whatever idea she had for a second date a surprise, then Ralsei had no qualms pretending, even if his hooves were starting to ache.

“Annnnd…” Susie drew out, sounding like she was straining her neck. They were walking uphill, now, so Ralsei guessed she was trying to recognize whatever lay over the hilltop. The rough hand on his back parted for a moment, and some subtle footfalls in the grass told Ralsei that Susie had jogged ahead a short distance to confirm whatever it was she needed to. That was probably a sign to stop walking for the moment. One huff of satisfaction later, Susie cleared her throat. “Ta-daa!”

Ralsei waited a couple moments in silence. More wind could be heard in the sky far above. Susie cleared her throat again. “That means you can open your eyes, dude.”

“Ah,” Ralsei said. “R-right. Okay.”

Bracing, Ralsei peeled his eyelids apart, squinting from the orange sunlight that had long since become foreign. His fists scrubbed at his eyes from under his glasses, parting the residual blurriness smudging his vision. A few blinks later, and a minor readjusting of his glasses, Ralsei could see the strange sight of… a bench. Susie kept her arms outwards like she was showing Ralsei what he’d won as a gameshow prize. There was a book lying flat on the bench, its cover just a hair redder than the sky above.

Confused, Ralsei tilted his head. Still, in doing his best to match Susie’s evident excitement, he mustered as much of a grin he could. A few nonplussed words worked their way out of his throat. “It’s… um, a nice bench.”

Hearing his confusion, Susie’s features deflated, her arms dropping to the earth like their strings were cut. “No, dude,” she tried saying. The rustling of trees was nearly louder. “I’m saying, like… this is the thing. What I thought we could… I dunno, uh, do? Just kinda chill? A-as, y’know… a date… thing...”

More silence passed. Before Ralsei could think of something to say, Susie huffed out an irritated puff of air. “This was stupid…”

Immediately, Ralsei raised his palms, automatically asserting that “good boyfriend mode” he’d been practicing for a frankly embarrassing amount of time. “No, not at all!” he assured his friend. “I really do like the idea, Susie! I was just a tad, um, confused by what you had meant. I’d love to just ‘chill’ with you!”

If Susie could hear the abrupt amount of energy in Ralsei’s voice, she didn’t find it suspicious. Prior knowledge let her know that was just how Ralsei talked; plus, she could tell enough that Ralsei was being genuine (as if he could be disingenuous, ha). Awkwardly trying to reach her earlier excitement, Susie straightened her back, motioning to the bench again. “Y-yeah,” she coughed. The girl’s arms scratched at her bare shoulders, though it looked more like she was just cold. It _was_ a little chilly. “I figured that, uh, after everything, maybe some sorta ‘downtime’ is what we could use, y’know?”

On that, Ralsei definitely agreed. They had been so busy saving the world and dealing with unexpected crises so much that they never really had time to just plan another personal outing for themselves. Heck, this could almost be qualified as the _first_ date, but neither person wanted to devalue their first outing so much as to say it didn’t count. Either way, Ralsei was more than happy to oblige his partner.

Susie gave a wide grin, walking over to the bench before dramatically launching into it with a _THUD_. A minor grimace rose to her features when she remembered the harsh surface of solid wood, though she didn’t seem all that perturbed. Confidently, the girl patted the book on the bench, persuading Ralsei to take a few steps towards it. Then, he noticed the peculiar pattern of grass at the bench’s legs, and his pace slowed as his eyes followed the trail down the hill.

“Uh,” he trailed off, looking at the winding path of scratched and trampled grass. Their own footsteps up the hill were subtle, but they looked nearly invisible next to the infinitely long snakes of desecrated ground branching well off into the distance. Putting two and two together, Ralsei turned back to Susie as he sat down on the worn wood of the bench. “Did you… drag this all the way out here, Susie?”

Susie huffed, as if offended by the notion. Her arms moved around themselves in a tight cross, though the action looked more to keep herself warm than for getting some point across. “What, you think some rando is gonna put a bench all the way out in the middle of nowhere-ville? ’Course I did.”

Susie suddenly turned away for a second, scratching at her freckles before putting her arm back around the other. “No one’s gonna miss it, don’t worry. N’ I was gonna drag it back after, anyways.”

Looking around ensured that there were definitely no other signs of people around. The forest near Hometown was far bigger than Ralsei first assumed. Maybe Susie’s strength made the task easier, but Ralsei was still flattered by the notion regardless. He glanced at the red book between them, finding it familiar. The cover was upside-down from where he sat. Ralsei’s head tilted to try and get a better look at it. “Is this…?”

“Yup,” Susie quickly confirmed. Her shoulders scrunched themselves up tighter to her, arms still closely knit together. “I saw you skimming through it last time, so I figured you’d actually wanna read it. And no, I didn’t steal it from the Libraby, I even paid for it and everything. Mostly.”

The confidence in her tone was palpable. Ralsei’s grin subsequently widened, and he flipped the book around excitedly. Sure enough, it was the same heroic tale that had caught his eye the first time he had been introduced to the Librarby. The corners of Ralsei’s mouth stayed perpetually tugged up as he moved himself closer to Susie, giving a tight hug without a second thought. Susie froze up for only a moment, but reciprocated the hug much faster than she had the first time around.

“Oh, thank you, Susie!” Ralsei excitedly told the girl. His hands wrapped themselves around her as much as he could, which was still a surprising effort considering the gap in their statures. He could feel the cool surface of Susie’s arms around him, tight and oddly cold.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the best,” Susie nonchalantly waved off. She gripped tightly to the prince, burying him into her tank-top. Her embrace showed no signs of letting up, but Ralsei wasn’t complaining. He _was_ a little worried at the subtle shake he felt. Susie adjusted herself around him, pulling him closer still into her. “God, you’re warm.”

The realization clicked for Ralsei. He hadn’t noticed because of his fur and sweater, but Susie must’ve been nearly freezing with how exposed her scales were to the cool autumn air. Curious, Ralsei opened his mouth to make sure. “Susie? Are you cold?”

Susie hesitated for a moment, which was as much of an answer Ralsei needed. He pulled himself away for only a second, disappointing Susie in the process. His hands moved up to his neck, unfurling the thick pink scarf around his neck. Susie only understood his intentions until after the fact, feeling the red already draping itself around her neck like a quilt.

“Nah, nah--” she tried denying, but of course Ralsei wasn’t having any of it.

“It’s okay, Susie,” Ralsei assured her. “I’m warm and comfy without it, don’t worry.”

At that, Susie snorted, feeling a heat contest the cold of her face at Ralsei’s gesture. “Got that right,” she assured him. With a little finesse Susie was surprised she could even have, she turned herself on the bench, inciting Ralsei to do the same and pulling his back against her once more. “You make a _great_ blanket, man.”

Susie paused for a second, thinking. “And… y’know. Uh. Boyfriend.”

Ralsei chuckled to himself. “Thanks,” he granted the monster girl. Carefully, he snuggled himself into Susie’s grasp to accommodate the both of them, resting against her front and laying his legs out on the ample space of the bench. Once he was sure they were comfortable (a fact made plenty obvious by how securely Susie allowed Ralsei to nestle into her), he grabbed his book, cracking open the red cover to the first page. “I think you’re an excellent girlfriend, Susie.”

It was as unfamiliar as it was welcome to hear Ralsei call Susie a girlfriend. She huffed out another overconfident breath of air, making sure her arms were secure around Ralsei’s body. “Hell yeah, I am.”


	9. Of Bravery and Bodies

"Are you okay?"

Ralsei didn't immediately hear her, too entranced to detect anything other than the rush of blood in his ears accompanying the sight before him. On paper, it was so simple. Just a loop of cloth around her torso, with two other loops reaching over her shoulders. The most complex thing was probably the tasteful red frills bordering the cloth, small and worn without being too distracting on their own. Even the clasp was simple in design. It was the violet scales underneath that made Ralsei's heart pump like a machine gun.

Thoughts swam like frenzied piranhas in his head; he wanted to rip the cloth entirely, but would that be too much? She was pretty. And strong. The color was nice. His hands were shaking a lot. Was he being too sweaty? How did the clasp work, exactly? Was she impatient too? Why was she blushing? He was probably blushing too much. His tail was wagging too much, too. He shouldn't be so nervous. He was very nervous. Her hair was so pretty, too. Did she hate him for those few scratches etched into her back? He didn't mean to. Did he?

"Rals?" Susie repeated. Her husky voice was out of breath, though didn't sound as impatient as Ralsei would've assumed. She stayed facing away from him, light from the nightstand's lamp making the hair she swept over her shoulder seem to glow in the night. "Hey, you alright man? ...is this too much? W-we can, uh..."

An indefinable knot in Ralsei's throat kept him from speaking. It was hard enough to swallow without how jittery and excited every part of him was, like it was jiggling the rock around too much to pass. Eventually, Ralsei gulped what anxiety he could, opening his mouth. A tense hesitation passed. A few distant crickets chirped outside as they each attempted to catch their breath. The rest of the house was vacant; only now was Ralsei realizing why Susie had stressed that fact so much earlier.

"Y-yes," Ralsei eventually answered. His nasally voice was nearly a whisper. Clearing his throat didn't award as much volume as he had hoped for. "I-I mean, no- not exactly- but I don't want to, um- t-this isn't too much, I..."

Susie's body relaxed a tad, as if slouching in disappointment. The subtlety of the motion forced Ralsei's vocal cords into motion once again.

"I want to do this," he assured her. The authenticity of his statement of his voice was palpable, drawing Susie's yellow eye back to his determined features. If he wasn't so busy looking over the girl's stature, he would've noticed the excited anxiousness of her own face. Ralsei spoke automatically, words firing out of his mouth one after another in some speed-focused attempt at straining an explanation from himself. "I really, really want this, Susie, I promise. I'm just nervous- because, um, y-you're very... very, very strong, and pretty, too, and it's..."

Another lump manifested itself in his throat, but he managed to push it down with pure momentum. "It's distracting, a-and intimidating."

Susie didn't seem to expect Ralsei's explanation. From his peripheral vision, he could see her eyebrow shoot up an inch. Then Ralsei realized he was still staring at the musculature of Susie's back, scales tracing the stout bulges and contours of the fibers underneath that kept telling Ralsei to rip into the cloth of her bra strap. Still, he had more common sense than that. Barely. Not enough common sense to look anywhere else, apparently.

"Distracting?" Susie repeated, as if in disbelief. Ralsei nodded on instinct, unconsciously letting his hands glide closer to the warmth of Susie's scales. She could evidently feel his approach, not quite tensing up, but visibly anticipating the touch of Ralsei's hands. The sensation wasn't completely alien to them, as the sparse scratches adorning Susie's back would attest, but the exact angle and intent and even intensity... it was as new as it was exciting. And, as an additional byproduct, it was scary as hell.

Ralsei hummed an affirmation, trying to feign ignorance of his hands' trajectory. Claws inched closer and closer to the contact he'd earlier been indulging in only minutes ago. If the scratches didn't show as much, then his lingering gasps of air definitely did. "It's true," he returned, voice still a squeak. "It makes me a little, um... self-conscious, I suppose. M-more than usual, I mean."

At that, Susie laughed, albeit quietly. More a snort than a chuckle. Her hair swayed slightly with the subtle nod of her head. "Hey, don't worry about it, Rals," she returned. Despite the deep nature of her voice, she always managed to sound so soft and assuring at times; a fact Ralsei never took for granted. "I... I'm pretty damn self-conscious too, y'know. Think this is a first for both of us, eh?"

Again, Ralsei hummed, nodding. Susie didn't often strike him as being so self-conscious, though earlier experiences were evidence enough to the fact. Right now was a fairly convincing piece of evidence.

"And..." Susie started again. There was a shake in her voice that Ralsei assumed he was imagining. "It's okay. I want this too, believe me, but take however long you gotta."

Her statement hung in the air like a snowflake. Seconds passed as Ralsei forced himself to focus on his hands, trying to calm their shaking as the tips of his claws made contact with Susie's scales. She didn't recoil, exactly, but the gentle nature of Ralsei's pointed hands was so unexpected that she tensed again. Even more time passed as Ralsei allowed himself to press the rest of his hands into Susie's back, soft as he felt the heated fibers of muscle under her scales.

"...w-wow," Ralsei breathed out. For once, Susie didn't roll her eyes or make any comment on the implicit compliment of Ralsei's awe. She simply looked to the ground, feeling Ralsei's palm move over her back, relaxing with the careful waves caressing her. To say it felt nice would be an understatement. Ralsei spent his time taking in the well-defined anatomy of his partner's stature, silent save for the plush shuffling of his tail. Excitement and anticipation mixed with awe, replacing his anxious shaking with a good-natured greed. He wanted to see more. Feel more.

Carefully, Ralsei forced himself to steady, and moved his palms back up to the cloth band wrapped around her torso. Susie waited, unconsciously leaning back a fraction of a degree. Her hand adjusted itself on her hair, making sure she had a good grip on the locks. A few more seconds passed. Then, Ralsei allowed himself to move his fingers underneath the cloth, thumbing over the bra's clasp.


	10. Stop and Smell the Glowbulbs

The sky wasn't familiar.

Well, that was normal, considering she was still getting used to the Dark World, but Susie still figured that whatever the hell was going on up there far above, it was supposed to be dark and ominous. Something to do with the whole "dark" part of the name "Dark World," if she had to guess. As if to contrast her few hours of experience, the sky was a brilliant hue of red and yellow, glowing like the sun's bigger brother in a fiery swath of warm colors that pierced at Susie's eyes. There was a reason she preferred the dark colors.

"Well, we're definitely heading in the right direction," Ralsei said from somewhere behind her. Even without glancing at the Prince, Susie could tell he was looking at the same brilliant canvas she was failing to get accustomed to. Exiting the lengthy caverns prior was bound to be accompanied with a gratefulness for any kind of color, painful or otherwise. Ditching his hat let Ralsei look up without restraint, even raising a hand to his eyes to block out some of the omnipresent yellow. "The sky is so bright…"

Susie snorted. "Two for two, Captain Obvious," she teased. Shouldering her axe, the girl let out a brief sigh of preparation. It was pretty hard to miss the enormous pillar of light piercing the heavens, being so bright as to threaten blindness, though that also meant that it was anyone's guess how far away the thing actually was. Susie hoped that it wasn't too much of a hike. Though, that hope was probably desperate at best.

Now that she thought about it, Susie's feet were definitely starting to ache. Not in that uncomfortable white-noise of pain that wearing shoes too small tended to cause, but rather the unbearable soreness that was unavoidable when walking for two hours straight in combat boots. Looking ahead, she could see vast plains of pink grass and stone, like a blanket of cotton candy laid over a rocky shoreline. The pink spread far off into the distance, dotted with various flowers of even more various colors. Most people would probably find the view appealing; Susie just saw it as dismal, wanting more and more for someone to just carry her to the Dark Fountain so she could give her feet a rest. Still, Susie wasn't one to vocalize her complaints, if only out of habit. Ralsei didn't seem to mimic that habit.

"My hooves ache," he lamented, sounding not unlike Susie's more annoying classmates. Though, feeling similar prevented Susie from teasing much about Ralsei's stamina. Kris glanced at the Prince, the thin line of their mouth somehow seeming curious. If they had any complaints of their own, Susie couldn't tell. She couldn't imagine metal greaves were any more comfortable than her boots. Their silence let Ralsei fill in the gap, turning back towards the human leader with a pleading grimace. "Can we please, um, take a break, Kris? I-if that's alright…"

Again, Susie opted against making fun of Ralsei. The walk had drained most of her obnoxious spirit. Plus, well, she was kind of past her malicious intents with Ralsei by now, anyways. One of the perks/curses of knowing him as well as she did. Kris mechanically moved their features to Susie, as if asking her for some kind of input. A gentle breeze swayed Kris's striped ascot.

"Eh," she grunted, pretending to look at the field before them. The rocky stone underfoot had been quick to transition from a dismal gray to the bright pink grass more akin to fur than foliage. Colorful plants and flowers dotted the dirt just a few feet away, none of them familiar to Susie. Most of them glowed. "I don't really care. I mean, if it'll get him to stop complainin'..."

Susie turned her sarcastic grin to Ralsei, tilting her head for added effect. Just as she expected, Ralsei brought up his palms defensively, ears shaking rapidly alongside his head's movements. "We can keep going if you want!" he assured both the monster and the human. "I-I just think that… well, since we've been walking for so long, surely we could all rest? At least for a little while? And, um… enjoy the view?"

Kris didn't seem to hear him. They kept their silent gaze on Ralsei, their thoughts as hidden as their eyes. Then, the human reanimated their self, stepping past Ralsei in a level stride. The two heroes watched their leader for a couple seconds as they walked into the field of flowers. Without so much as a warning, Kris held their sword out to the side, letting it fall to the earth. Then they relaxed their legs, falling into a lax sitting position with a harsh _*THUD*._

Susie blinked, raising her eyebrows. Her yellow eyes wandered over to Ralsei's glasses. "Guess that's a yes," she shrugged. Ralsei visibly relaxed at the confirmation. After his own sigh, the Prince followed Kris into the pink grass. Needless to say, he was a lot more careful moving to the earth underfoot. Susie watched his feather-like movements all the same.

A quiet breeze filled in the following quiet. Ralsei offered a pleased smile to Kris, then turned back to see Susie standing right where she was, still awkwardly holding her axe. She didn't really know where to put her eyes, much less the useless hunk of metal she'd carried all the way out to wherever they were. From her peripheral vision, she could see Ralsei adjust his scarf in some nervous manner.

"Susie?" he tried, voice nearly a whisper. Clearing his throat took a couple seconds too long to sound very natural. "Why don't you join us?"

The monster girl feigned a grunt, rolling her eyes dramatically. She'd be lying if she said the thought didn't immediately cross her mind, but she was still getting used to the whole "friend" thing to act much on her own. "Sure," she huffed out. "Why not?"

Susie's ax fell to the ground with a dull clatter of metal, followed by the footfalls of boots tramping through the grass somehow both lazily and harshly. About three seconds later, she fell to the ground like a rock, not too far from where Ralsei had taken to sitting. Kris leaned a ways to the side to see her expression, subsequently showing that they had parted the hair from their eyes. It was hard to tell why.

Like before, Ralsei gave the girl a warm grin, not saying anything else. The warmth was a lot more impactful when it was directed towards her, Susie noted. Wasn't enough to get her to admit as much. Close, though. Instead, Susie just shrugged again, propping one of her elbows up on her knees. The flowers around the three swayed gently in the breeze. A few bulbs poked out from under Susie's boots.

"Hrm," Susie hummed to herself, looking at her boots. Badass as they were, they weren't the most comfortable things in the world. The current soreness she was trying to remedy was evidence enough.

Ralsei watched as Susie put her hands around the leather of her boots, leaning back a tad to try and shimmy off the footwear. One of the downsides of how well they fit was the obvious secureness with which they were fastened. A couple aggravated grunts later, and maybe a few swear words Ralsei pretended not to hear, the boot came off, soaring in a graceful arc some feet behind Susie before its counterpart followed suit. The girl resumed her "cool" pose immediately after.

"Better?" Ralsei knowingly asked. It wasn't often Susie could hear the joking tone from Ralsei of all people. That wasn't to say she didn't welcome it. The girl nodded, giving a cool "Yup," in response. She could've sworn the grass was magically softer than the boring green she had back home.

Again, the field fell to silence, each hero surveying the placidity of the flowers around them. Above, some yellow dots pulsed like stars, distant and glowing in the already-bright backdrop of the gold sky. Susie tilted her head at the sight.

"Hey," she spoke gruffly. Though she was just trying to get Ralsei's attention, Kris opened one lazy eye towards her as well. She tried not to let the red dissuade her as she motioned towards the distant glints of light. "You're from around here, yeah? What's up with that?"

Ralsei followed the direction of her hand, seeing the yellow spots up in the sky. A curious hum fell from his lips. "I am a Darkener," he told Susie, "but… I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps they're more glowbulbs? I'm not sure how they got up there, though..."

That didn't clear much of Susie's confusion. If anything, the Prince's answer only confused her more. "The hell's a glowbulb?"

Ralsei looked at her quizzically, as if trying to gauge if he was being messed with or not. Then he seemed to remember the gap in dimensions they shared, visibly perking up a tad as the thought hit him.

"They're a kind of flower," he explained simply. A furry hand spread before him, gesturing to the wide variety of plants surrounding the heroes. Susie guessed he was referring specifically to the bulbous plants that were glowing. "They have these yellow bulbs, and they, um… glow."

"Hm," Susie hummed. "That's strike three, Captain Obvious." An embarrassed blush rose to Ralsei's features, though he laughed off the girl's teasing. She was glad to hear as much; trying to walk the line of "endearing" without being too much of an ass about it, and all.

"S-sorry," he apologized. The boy's gaze drifted to a nearby flower, its petals a mix of lilac and violet. As he spoke, he half-consciously reached towards the plant, picking it without even seeming to realize it. "I… don't know too much about the area, admittedly. But the flowers are very pretty, don't you think?"

Susie did, but she still clung to her stubbornness (fittingly enough). "Eh," she shrugged. Her eyes swiveled back up at the distant lights floating ambiently against the sky. If she didn't know she was in a completely different dimension, Susie might've mistaken them for stars. "How'd they get up there, you figure?"

Her eyes stayed wandering above, curious. Ralsei's voice reached her ear holes after a brief delay. "Well, it's kind of hard to see, but I think it has something to do with the Fountain."

Susie moved her gaze to the blinding pillar of light so many miles away. Subsequently, she looked away, trying to blink the spots out of her eyes as Ralsei continued. "You see how the Fountain is yellow instead of blue? Maybe it, um… maybe the Fountain is inside a glowbulb. Or, at least, was created there? The Fountain might've carried a bunch of other glowbulbs into the sky."

That was as good a hypothesis as any. At any rate, Susie didn't know enough about the Dark World, magic, _or_ botany to come to any better conclusion. She grunted in her usual form of acknowledgement, turning back towards Ralsei. Then she noticed a distinct lilac just next to his horn, proceeding to double take.

Ralsei's gaze was directed to pink grass, a nondescript blush tinting his cheeks a similar hue. It lined up with the self-consciousness of his features well enough. Just next to his horn, about at the threshold of the boy's ear, was the purple flower he'd picked just a few seconds ago. He'd taken to putting it in his version of hair; however it managed to stay in place, Susie wasn't sure. That wasn't exactly what was going through her mind when she was staring at the boy before her. The current thought in her mind was the same reason she found her cheeks getting a handful of degrees warmer.

"I-I, um," Ralsei stuttered, glancing at Susie's stare for only a second. If he had hair to part over his ear, Susie imagined he'd take to the nervous habit several times over. Instead, Ralsei tugged at his scarf, looking like he was contemplating burying himself into it in one of his usually shy tendencies. "I just, uh, thought it looked pretty, is all. And, well, it feels… thematic? In a sense?"

Susie would've leaned towards the former. Her eyes scanned over Ralsei's nervous features, trying to ignore how well violet and white seemed to fit together. Past Ralsei, Susie could see a questioning gaze from Kris, their eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Y-yeah," Susie coughed. Was she supposed to tease him? A brief bout of panic almost defaulted her back into that "mean bully" trope, but the sight before also cancelled out the notion in about as much time. "It's, uh- y'know, I guess it kinda… fits. I guess."

Evidently, Ralsei was expecting the usual slew of teasing. His shoulders untensed themselves, blinking as he registered Susie's complete lack of mocking. Hearing any form of agreement was not something he'd prepared for. A grin began piercing his features; slowly, at first, then rapidly spreading his lips into a smiling curve like wildfire. He didn't say anything out loud, but his features said enough. God knows Susie was listening enough to hear.

Another thought reached Ralsei, and he looked back over the surrounding flowers with far more vigor than Susie had ever seen him with. His eyes darted from violet petals to blue stems. Eventually, the Prince settled on a blue flower seemingly lacking a stalk. The shape reminded Susie of a bell. With a mixture of urgency and care, Ralsei reached towards the blue, picking it from the pink grass before turning back to Susie. His legs scooted himself closer to the girl from under his robes.

"Here," he offered, holding out the flower. It was Susie's turn to blink in befuddlement, recoiling a few inches from how abruptly Ralsei had moved. A distinct sweetness emanated from the bell-like flower. Though, maybe that was just Ralsei's hands? Susie didn't want to know for sure at the moment. The rosiness under her freckles deepened, and she lifted her claws up defensively.

"N-nah," Susie tried denying, still leaning like Ralsei was holding a gun. Too many thoughts filled her head from so simple an action for her to treat the offer with any sense of normalcy. If she was lucky, Ralsei wouldn't notice. If she was really lucky, maybe Kris wouldn't either. "I-I don't, um, do... flowers."

Ralsei didn't appear to understand her immediately. One of his ears swayed to the side as he tilted his head. "'Don't do?'" he repeated, unsure of what Susie meant. "But, it's so pretty… or, wait- are you allergic? I-I didn't mean-"

"Nah," Susie denied again. She kept her pace as best she could, trying to ignore the sweetness just a foot from her nose. "I ain't allergic. Least, uh, I don't think so. I just mean, um, I'm not a 'pretty' girl."

A brief frown pulled Ralsei's eyebrows together. The flower lowered just an inch, but it was more to match his confused features than to rescind his offer. "Don't say that," he returned, leaning a tad closer. A unique determination shined from under his glasses. "You're very pretty, you know. Right, Kris?"

Whatever degree of blushing had been gradually lost over the past twelve seconds came back tenfold. Even if she was in a completely different dimension, Susie's face felt like she was currently dunking itself inside the sun. It was such an off-hand compliment, too. Kris, apparently enjoying the flustered sight before them, nodded confidently, grinning just enough to tell Susie that they were doing as much.

Normally, Susie would just tell Kris to shut up, falling back on her usual defense mechanism of clobbering. She was about to re-engage in that familiar routine before Ralsei halted her once again, leaning back towards the girl.

"Here," he repeated. Susie was too petrified by the honest compliment to offer any sort of resistance as Ralsei reached towards the girl's hair, flower in tow. Time seemed to slow down. She should've been berating him, saying he needed to get his glasses checked if he thought she was pretty, even roughly pushing his arm away. All Susie did in reality was stare at some point on the horizon, feeling the boy's cautious fingers weave the plant into her hair with so much ease that she would've figured this wasn't his first time doing so.

Around Ralsei's robe, Susie could see Kris watch with amusement before looking around at the flowers like Ralsei had. Whatever they did next was obscured as Ralsei leaned back onto his hooves, sitting back into the pink grass. His hand naturally trailed from Susie' hair to the girl's cheek. It seemed to hesitate in place for a moment- just long enough for Susie to make note of how soft his fur was- then moved back to Ralsei's side. Maybe Susie just imagined the pause in the middle.

"There, see?" he said assuredly. There was a pleasing confidence to his tone that managed to breach past Susie's internal fluster. Susie stayed quiet as he spoke, cheeks still warm. Crap, had he felt that? He could probably see as much, though. Either way, Ralsei continued, still sitting close to the girl. "It looks great on you, Susie."

Like one of those crappy computers back in the Librarby, Susie's usual gruffness lagged for a couple more seconds before half-heartedly returning to her voice. "Y-yeah, yeah, whatever," she tried waving off. Being so close to Ralsei prevented most of her usually over-dramatic gestures, though some part of her she'd never admit to owning would say that the trade-off was worth it. "I get it, flower boy."

Ralsei only smiled, treating the new nickname with a palpable eagerness. "I think I prefer that over 'toothpaste boy,'" he said with a light chuckle. Susie found herself laughing a little in response, fluster be damned. Even Kris gave a silent snort, leaning back into the pink grass in a more comfortable sitting position. They, too, now had their own flower waved into their navy blue locks, though Susie couldn't recognize it.

Once again, the three heroes fell to quiet, enjoying the respite as much as prophetic legends could. Ralsei moved to give Susie some space, though she noted that he wasn't quite as far as he'd been when Susie first fell to the earth. She wasn't complaining. Yellow bulbs danced on the wind above alongside the pink grass of the fields around them. Susie scratched at her cheek, then cleared her throat.

"Y-you're, um…" she said in a half-whisper. Piqued, Ralsei moved his green eyes to her, seeing the anxious blush spread over her snout as she spoke. "You're… pretty, too, by the way."


	11. Deflection

"Oh, don't give me that look, Kris."

Kris only tilted their head, not saying anything. They haven't said anything for the past four minutes, and yet Susie was still wearing a scowl like Kris had just mentioned how much she sucked for the hundredth time in a row. If it wasn't for the girl's paranoia, they would've been walking in silence for about as long. Susie adjusted the boy on her back, half-consciously checking to make sure he wouldn't fall off. He certainly wasn't going to balance himself out any time soon.

It happened around five minutes ago. Today, the Knight had decided to unleash another Dark Fountain (not unlike the two previous days), and Kris, Ralsei, and Susie had begun their trek to the newest cataclysm like it was a recently opened tourist attraction. The three of them had been going through the usually adventurous motions, falling into that pattern of heroism that had so recently pervaded each of their lives. Solving puzzles, flirting with would-be murderers, and maybe learning more about this "friendship" thing that was so alien to Susie. That was her favorite part, though she'd sooner throw something at her father than admit as much.

Part of the necessary evils of traveling to foreign lands would be encountering the usual slew of colorful characters, and (in keeping with the theme of the glowing caverns the group of heroes were delving into), their main obstacle was the occasional group of Georrfes (or, as Susie would prefer to call them, "really fricken' weird rock things with googly eyes"). Kris had figured out how to defuse the encounters with them easily enough; just throw rocks at them. Apparently, the Georrfes considered it some sort of game. Susie wasn't one to turn down a rock-chucking contest, so her usual apprehensions about ACTing were left at home.

That was, until one of the Georrfes started throwing rocks back.

What had initially started as a convenient way to unwind had turned into dodgeball to the death, and the three heroes scrambled madly at the cascade of boulders excitedly being hurled back at them. Those googly eyes apparently weren't good for accuracy, but the Georrfe had made up for it in sheer volume. Panicking, Kris had chucked another handful of pebbles and debris, hoping to calm down the combatant. The rocks only deflected off of the Georrfe's stony hide straight back at Kris, seemingly _gaining_ momentum in the process despite what physics usually dictated.

In a similar panic, Susie fell back on her usual violent tendencies, and had swung her ax in some vague attempt to scare off the shower of stone. The hit connected, but no damage was done. At least, not to the Georffe; Susie instead felt a sharp sting in her sternum, like she had hit _herself_. It was far from worrying or lethal, but the unexpected shock of pain did little to quell Susie's frustrations.

Then, Ralsei panicked himself, rushing out a spell as fast as his hands would allow. The deluge of debris was tuckering the Georrfe out, like a child soon slamming into the wall of exhaustion that extended play-time usually gave them. Pacifying seemed to be a given to Ralsei. Yellow magic coalesced in the prince's palm, and he raised his hand towards the Georrfe, nearly shouting his Pacify prayer. The stone of the Georrfe flashed white, and a second later, Ralsei realized the difference between yellow and white. In the next second, Ralsei's eyes rolled up in his head, and he crumpled to the ground, sound asleep.

Worried, Susie shot her gaze to Ralsei, not expecting him to fall to the earth so suddenly. Her gaze whipped back to the Georrfe, a protective fury burning in her eyes. She narrowly avoided another rock before reaching to the ground, hefting a sizable chunk of concrete a little bigger than a football in her brutish grasp. With a grunt of exertion, she launched the stone squarely towards the Georrfe's eye, hitting her mark with pinpoint accuracy. The Georrfe recoiled, abruptly halting its lethal playfulness in an obvious show of pain. Susie didn't care too much.

The Georrfe left soon after, slinking away into one of the many tunnels dotting the landscape. A swear was tossed after it, though Susie didn't know if she was heard or not. Kris placed their gauntlets on their knees, finally having a moment to catch their breath from the rush of rocks. Their eyes stayed over Susie's imposing form, then moved to Ralsei's lax pose on the ground. His eyes were shut, a placid expression keeping his features soft. Susie moved her visage similarly, looking over the boy. A few gentle snores fell from his mouth. If it wasn't for the recent adrenaline, the sight might've been funny to Susie. Maybe even… appealing, in a way.

Though, they had somewhere to be. After a couple more moments for Susie to catch her own breath, she strode towards the sleeping monster, tilting her head. Then she looked back to Kris.

"Uh…" she started, unsure. He looked so at peace. "Did… you wanna wake him? Or should I, or…"

Kris only shrugged, not having dealt with this before. Who knew how that Pacify spell worked? Curious, the human took some steps towards Ralsei, gently prodding his midriff with their boot. Ralsei didn't react in the slightest.

Susie grunted, unamused. "Well, you gotta do more than _that,"_ she chastised. A brief hesitation passed over her features. Kris could see the slightest glimpse of concern in her eyes; then, her expression hardened like stone, and she stomped towards Ralsei's form.

"Yo!" she called to Ralsei. Kris winced from the unexpected volume of her husky voice. "Wake up, dude! We gotta go!"

Still Ralsei didn't move or show any signs of hearing her. He snoozed away on the ground like it was the softest thing since… well, himself. Susie's eyebrows furrowed, and she blew one of her more obtrusive bangs of hair out from her eyes. One of her palms lifted itself up to her side, the girl crouching down towards Ralsei's face. She hesitated again. Her hand stayed frozen in the air for some time.

Her face moved back to Kris's expectant features. They rolled their wrist in a "go on" motion, having a vague idea of why Susie was hesitating so much.

Susie's anxious eyes moved back to Ralsei's face, still as soft as the rest of him. He really did seem to be enjoying his untimely nap. Still, they couldn't just have a spontaneous slumber party out in the middle of some glowing caverns (though, the prospect of a slumber party was almost enough for Susie to overlook the unorthodox location of the event). Steeling herself, Susie brought her hand down on Ralsei's cheek, then slowed to a snail's pace for the last inch of distance to just daintily pat him.

As expected, Ralsei stayed sound asleep.

"Hm," Susie hummed, grimacing. Her eyes moved back up to find the thin line of Kris's mouth. They crossed their arms, obviously incredulous that someone as rough as Susie had opted for something so weak.

"S-shut up, dude!" Susie tried arguing back, her face growing warm. "Do _you_ wanna hit him? He's just so…"

Susie searched the rocky outcroppings above for the word. "...fragile."

Though Kris visibly agreed, nodding their head in understanding, they still wanted to pick up their adventurous pace once again. They waited for some time, considering their options. Force-feeding some restorative candy might've done the trick, though that idea seemed even less appealing than just a quick slap on Ralsei's face. They watched Ralsei's sleeping form, then watched Susie's observation of said sleeping form. A troubled grimace brought her eyebrows together closer still, and she groaned to herself.

"This is stupid," Susie muttered. The girl reached towards her spiked armlets, freckles a deeper hue than usual. Kris was silent as each of the pointy decorations slid off of Susie's wrists and biceps. The bands were put into unseen jacket pockets, and Susie shook her head, moving Ralsei's legs out a tad. Another mutter fell from her lips, almost as quiet despite actually having a target. "Give me a hand, here, Kris."

From there, Kris understood Susie's intentions well enough. They enjoyed just the slightest moment of a knowing grin before moving towards Ralsei's arms.

It was an uncomfortable process, but within the minute, Susie hoisted Ralsei onto her back, trying to simultaneously keep a solid grip on his legs and ignore how soft his legs felt, even through his robe. He curled up naturally against Susie's back, laying against her hair like it was a blanket. All Susie had said was a brief "Let's go," before setting off ahead of Kris. Kris caught up soon after.

Susie didn't say a word as they walked, keeping her eyes forward. She could feel enough of Kris's gaze next to her, but didn't want to give them the satisfaction of acknowledgement. Four minutes later, paranoia won out, and she glanced at Kris, who was only smiling.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Kris."

Susie moved her eyes back forwards as Kris tilted their head. Their lips stayed shut in a knowing smile that only made Susie even more self-conscious, which was saying something. Her cheeks were still uncomfortably warm, not unlike the all-too-noticeable warmth pressed into her back.

"Do _you_ wanna carry him?" Susie spat at Kris. Part of her question was genuine, though the process of getting Ralsei up on Susie's back was uncomfortable enough that a pass-off of the Prince wouldn't exactly go smoothly, and the last thing Susie wanted to do was drop him. Kris raised their gauntlets defensively, but their smile hadn't left. If anything, their grin grew. Susie just rolled her eyes and quickened her pace.

Kris matched her pace within seconds. They walked for a while, passing various columns of stone dotted by the occasional distant Georrfe. None of them were within rock-throwing distance, which was fine by Susie. She wasn't really in the mood for throwing things, and Ralsei's cuddly nature was only making her more and more aware of how light he felt to Susie's abnormally defined muscles.

A glint of light attracted Susie's gaze to Kris once again. Their smile had changed, somewhat; it was subtle, but the half of an expression Susie could see seemed to offer more candor than teasing. Kris raised a pointed hand to Ralsei, lowering their head a little. Given the physicality of her cargo, Susie couldn't really turn back to face Ralsei, though had felt him snuggle into her hair a little, adjusting as if to get more comfortable. He might've been sleeping, but the boy's body was so relaxed that Susie figured he must've been comfy already.

Susie just rolled her eyes again. Though, this time, she didn't speed away, despite how persuasive a case her warmed cheeks were presenting. She simply strode in a short silence for some time, thinking about the weight on her back. Kris didn't prod or make any of their esoteric attempts at teasing, giving Susie time with her thoughts. Unconsciously, Susie's arms relaxed a little.

"...hey, Kris?" Susie ventured, almost silent. It was a far departure from her usually gruff and husky voice. The human faced Susie once again, though she didn't follow up with any question for a while. Too many half-coherent insecurities swam around in her head for any one of them to leave her lips. Eventually, one broke the surface, still just as quiet.

"Do you think… Ralsei likes me?"

Not that Susie could see, but Kris's eyebrows raised at the question. Simply imagining the reaction was enough for Susie to sputter out a clarification, her face a little red at the abrupt vulnerability.

"N-not like _that,_ dumbass!" she stuttered, almost yelling. Ralsei shifted around a little, and though Susie's first attempt at waking him up made it seem more like a coincidence, she winced all the same. Some seconds passed as she made sure Ralsei was sleeping, and hearing his gentle snores continue, she turned back to Kris's questioning gaze (or the shadowed equivalent of it). "I-I just mean, like… I dunno, like does he… do you think he just kinda… maybe likes being friends? With me?"

There was no point in trying to hide the hopefulness of her expression, but that didn't stop Susie from attempting as much. Kris thought over her question for a short while; not for the answer's ambiguity, but rather to discern Susie's intent in asking as much. They couldn't remember the last time Susie sounded so simultaneously hopeful and insecure. Hearing the honesty of her tone wasn't something Kris was against. The past couple of days served well enough as an answer to Susie's question, though they knew enough about Susie to understand where she was coming from.

Confidently, Kris nodded their head, their lips curving up in a genuine smile. Susie studied their expression for some time, as if searching for some doubt or dishonesty and coming up with nothing. A few more paranoid seconds passed, and Susie reflexively straightened her back, looking ahead. Her cheeks were still just a few degrees too hot, but there was no denying the comforted smile hiding in her lackluster poker face.

"Right," she nodded. For a brief moment, she adjusted her grasp, loosening the anxious tightness of her fingers. In turn, Ralsei snuggled up to her again, letting out a sleepy hum in the process and shattering the faux facsimile of a neutral expression on Susie's features. "Cool. I, y'know, figured, I just, uh… thanks, Kris."


	12. The Third Day

Kris could hear them long before seeing them.

Given Susie’s generally boisterous nature, that wasn’t all that surprising to Kris. She had a tendency to be heard regardless of her intent. What _did_ end up surprising Kris was the other voice matching the dragon’s laughter, one far less husky and far more giggly. It wasn’t often that Ralsei raised his voice, much less burst out into some loud chortling that could even challenge Susie’s own. Recognizing the noise, Kris looked up from Susie’s poor texting ability, soon pocketing the phone and hurrying their pace through the long-abandoned parking lot.

“Seriously,” Susie’s voice eventually won out over the booming vibrations of her own laughs. Kris listened as they jogged towards their friends’ conversation. “You got a knack for this stuff. You _sure_ you don’t, like, write poems in your spare time, or something?”

Ralsei’s laughs lingered on for another few seconds before his voice reached Kris’s ears. “Well, thank you, Susie, but I really don’t write anything like that. I just… enjoy reading, I suppose? I don’t mean to sound so dramatic.”

Kris rounded the concrete, kicking some dirt over the cracked concrete underfoot. After rounding another long-forgotten collection of car scraps, they could see the distant figures of their friends against the short wall of concrete serving as the lot’s barrier. A copious amount of graffiti adorned the stone, most of which a distinct purple color.

“Hey, it ain’t like I’m complaining,” Susie replied to Ralsei, shrugging her shoulders. Kris slowed for a moment. The girl wasn’t wearing her jacket, the lilac scales of her bare arms open to the autumn air. Next to her sat Ralsei, donning the purple Susie tended to huddle herself in during the school day from atop his spot on the concrete wall. Both of them had a palpable happiness on their features that a bat could’ve read from a mile away. Kris’s features pulled themselves up into an excited smile, and they shouldered their backpack, resuming their jog across the dilapidated pavement.

Whatever Ralsei would’ve said next was interrupted when his fluffy ears picked up Kris’s footfalls. The Prince looked up to find them rapidly approaching, his smile immediately broadening. A furry white palm shot up into the air in an excited wave. Susie followed the boy’s gaze forward, and seeing Kris’s approach, she raised a cool hand into the air herself. Kris waved back, if only to be polite, as they closed the distance.

“Well, look who decided to show up,” Susie teased, feigning a huff of air through her crooked smile. Her hand fell back to her side like a stone. “Took ya long enough, Kris.”

After reaching their friends, the human rolled their eyes (though the action was mostly hidden from behind the deep brown of their bangs). They opened their mouth to blame Susie’s rather poor directions, though Ralsei preemptively interrupted their complaints.

“Hi, Kris!” he greeted with a tone as breezy as the soft wind surrounding the trio. His glasses shined in the setting sun. “We haven’t really been waiting long, haha. I’m very glad you could make it!”

Kris nodded agreement, though had to lament that they apparently missed something. They kept their eyes on Susie questioningly, and she seemed able enough to read what they were getting at with their gaze alone. A good chunk of her mock exasperation was lost in the next moment. Ralsei looked back at Susie, noticed the slight tint of red permeating her freckles, then looked back at Kris. Subsequently, Kris turned their inquisitive gaze to Ralsei’s features. He seemed confused at what silent message Kris was getting at. It took a purposeful motion to Ralsei’s attire for him to recognize the question.

“Oh, this?” Ralsei said aloud, as if he forgot about his own wardrobe. Kris couldn’t tell if there was a knowing edge in his tone; given how naive and generally honest Ralsei could be, Kris had their doubts. Ralsei adjusted the oversized jacket he wore, seemingly oblivious to Susie’s wandering gaze. “Susie was just telling me about how Lighteners trade clothing as, um, tradition? I tried saying that it wasn’t really a fair trade, but, I didn’t want to be rude.”

Instantly, Kris turned their face to Susie’s features, a devilish grin pulling at the corners of their lips. Susie was suddenly interested in the distant trees, her cheeks nearly as red as their leaves. If she pulled her snout any further she’d likely sprain her neck. Ironically, keeping her eyes so purposefully off of Kris’s incredulous expression let them see the gleaming hairpin weaved into her hair, its green heart shining like an emerald. They couldn’t remember her wearing it during school, though they knew Susie enough to assume that she had simply kept it in her pocket at the time. Now that they thought about it, maybe that was why Kris could read Susie’s expression so much more easily now. Ralsei’s gift certainly wasn’t helping her be any less conspicuous.

“Y-yeah,” Susie coughed into her fist. Her voice squeaked more than the hinges on that old truck Kris’s father was so obstinate about keeping. “T-tradition. Um, right, Kris?”

The flustered features of her expression transformed into a pleading pout, the girl apparently not worried about how conspicuous that might seem to Ralsei. He certainly didn’t find it out of the ordinary. Kris enjoyed the few seconds of panic, pretending to mull over the decision of what to say. Susie’s desperation didn’t go anywhere, and after a couple more seconds of savoring, Kris simply nodded. A visible breath of relief left Susie’s lungs. Again, Ralsei didn’t make any note of it, only smiling brightly.

Susie cleared her throat, obviously wanting to change topics. Her shaky voice regained its ground eventually, and she gestured to Kris’s right, moving their gaze. “A-anyways, check it out,” she told the human, waving a hand to a discarded can on the ground. “ _Major_ find.”

Kris couldn’t read the worn label, but previous excursions with their brother told them enough (as if the fresh graffiti still dripping didn’t). They stepped towards the can of spray paint, glancing at how its contents had been emptied in the process. Various meaningless swaths and blotches of purple stained the concrete wall, most of which placed with seemingly little care. There were a couple recognizable designs, though, not the least of which being a rather familiar “S” next to where Susie leaned against the barrier. The following “u” and occluded letters ending with an “e” gave Kris a pretty good idea on who put them there.

“Um, sorry we started without you, Kris,” Ralsei sheepishly apologized. He swung his legs idly, hooves making subtle _taps_ against the concrete wall. “Susie was showing me how it worked, and, uh, I guess we got a little… carried away? B-but there should still be plenty left for you!”

Curious, Kris scanned over the barrier again, wondering how Susie managed to rope someone like Ralsei into tagging. Though, given how hard it was for Kris to find the lot in the first place, it was probably safe to say no one would attempt to arrest them for some harmless “art.” There were a few other shapes adorning the wall Ralsei was sitting on, most of them hearts. It wasn’t too demanding of Kris’s deductive skills to assume Ralsei had a penchant for hearts. He even wrote his name near the end of the wall, sloppy as it was.

A hum left Kris’s lips. They reached an open hand towards the can, its metallic surface cool to the touch. Susie stepped away from the concrete barrier, motioning dramatically towards the stone like it was an unparalleled art gallery. Ralsei hopped from the stone as Kris lifted the spray paint, the purple jacket’s weight making him stumble for a moment. Susie suppressed a laugh. Or at least, she tried to. An embarrassed blush tinted Ralsei’s cheeks.

“Sorry, man,” Susie told him, shaking her head. “I just can’t get over how fricken’ _big_ it looks on you.”

Ralsei let out a few embarrassed giggles. He tried adjusting the sleeves of the jacket, though no amount of rolling or shifting would reveal his hands from under the cloth. “W-well, you’re a lot taller than me!”

Again, Susie chuckled to herself. She put a playful palm in between Ralsei’s horns, rustling the tufts of white fur sticking out on his forehead. “I think most people are, short-stack.”

Ralsei grumbled a little, though his smirk was as consistent as his blush. Then he caught Kris’s unamused countenance, crossing their arms as they waited for their friends to finish… whatever they were doing. Kris had an idea, but the teasing could come later. Ralsei moved to say something as he stepped to Susie’s side, though Susie beat him to it, gesturing again to the concrete wall. There was an empty patch of concrete they’d seemingly been saving for Kris.

“After you, Kris,” Susie granted.


	13. The Third Night

"It's okay to like him."

Susie turned to the human, eyes wide. Not from what she heard; she didn't even really hear whatever Kris was saying. Rather, she was caught off guard by the fact that Kris said anything at all. They were alone, now, only accompanied by the faint breeze above. The sun had set just a few minutes ago, though the moon's pale light was stubborn in its defiance to fade into pure blackness. Suffice to say, there wasn't much around the accompanying forest of Hometown to dominate Susie's ear holes, so she heard Kris's words with perfect clarity. That still wasn't enough to assuage her befuddlement.

"What?" she blurted out, staring at the thin line of Kris's mouth. They made no point of reaction, only shrugging in response to Susie's incredulity. The monster tilted her head, wondering if some animal in the forest was the real culprit of whatever she'd heard. In a place like Hometown, that probably wasn't too unrealistic. Susie shook her head, moving a hand up to clear whatever blockages might've impaired her hearing. "What did- did you just say something, Kris?"

Kris nodded, lazily parting some of their hair to reveal a disinterested red eye. "Yeah," they replied. "I said it's okay to like him."

Still Susie stared at the human, befuddled at the mere existence of their voice. She's heard them speak before, obviously, but something about them sounded… different. At the very least, she couldn't remember the last time Kris actually said something that wasn't just some reaction or overly dramatic line intended to pacify a would-be murderer.

"...huh," Susie eventually let out. She scratched her bare shoulder, half-consciously remembering the reason she could feel the breeze so well and relaxing at the fact. "You're just… I dunno, you're usually pretty quiet, dude."

Kris nodded, letting out a half of a sigh. "I know."

The light of the evening was still fading, though it wasn't hard to see Susie's hand linger on the scales of her shoulder. The hesitation as her hand passed over her latest wardrobe addition was a bit more difficult to discern, though Kris had an eye for reading people (not to mention that Susie wasn't exactly a subtle person). They could see Susie's brain digest the fact of Kris's functioning vocal cords for a couple more seconds before she tensed suddenly, reading the content of the phrase rather than its existence.

"And- what's that s'posed to mean?" Susie moved her arms together in a defensive cross, shoving her snout to the side as if she was trying to show off her freckles. The pink scarf waved passively in the breeze, almost hidden in the girl's mess of hair. "Duh, it's okay to like him. It's kinda hard not to, if you haven't noticed."

Kris had to smile at Susie's mocking tone, as if Ralsei's friendly nature was so openly agreeable that any other opinion was absurd. It was a far cry from the vehemently violent threats and malicious teasing Suse had first met Ralsei with. A few moments passed as Kris waited for her to hear her tone and try to downplay the implicit compliment she'd just given their caprine companion. This time, though, she did no such thing. Hearing the silence, Susie looked back at Kris, confused by whatever their quiet was trying to say. Usually the subtleties of their expression gave Susie a good enough idea.

Coming up with nothing, Susie shrugged, pupils scanning over the dark red doors that had taken Ralsei just a few minutes ago. Her eyes lingered on the door's handles, and Kris could see an idea start to form in her head. Though, the idea didn't seem to get very far.

"C'mon," Susie sighed. Kris could almost see her drop the idea like a child having to let go of their favorite toy. "We should head home before your mom freaks out."

Kris hummed, opting not to push it. "Okay."

Susie's eyebrows furrowed into a contemplative valley. She stepped past Kris, weathered boots trampling the grass underfoot in a purposeful stride as she ripped herself away from the doors. "Still super weird to hear you, dude. Uh, no offense."

Kris began their own stride, having to walk just a little faster to keep up with the monster's longer legs. "None taken."

The two fell into silence, the quiet of the forest taking over as the hole in their trio made itself known. Susie had slowed her brisk pace, giving Kris the opportunity to walk next to her rather than behind her. Kris watched her in silence; watching people was something of a habit, and Susie's outward nature when it came to how she was feeling was particularly hard to look away from, even disregarding the friendship that had grown between her and Kris. She tried in vain not to look to the stars peeking out from behind the clouds above them, followed by her trying to throw her arms up behind her head in an effort to relax. Inevitably, just as Kris predicted, her claws ended up hooked against the scarf around her neck, rubbing the cloth like it was a fragile kitten. The most peculiar thing was the lack of unawareness or daydreaming in her expression; she knew Kris could see her doing what she was, and that didn't stop her.

"Y'know, uh…" Susie started. Her voice was little more than a whisper at first. "I kind of… wanted to ask you something, Kris."

The girl turned to Kris, not quite pleading or desperate, but not entirely curious, either. Kris nodded forwards towards her, hands politely behind their back. "Go ahead."

Susie's back visibly straightened at the response. "Still not used to you sayin' so much… uh, no offense. Again."

A slight smirk pulled Kris's mouth to the side, which also surprised Susie. "It's alright," they assured her. Honestly, they'd expected her to barely even recognize them. Being treated as the friend that they wanted to be was a pleasant enough feeling for Kris to continue. "I understand. I… try to stay quiet."

Susie let out a snort of a laugh, husky voice reverberating off the trees lining their path. "Yeah, not so much when it comes to flirtin' though, huh?"

Kris rolled their eyes, deciding against saying much about that. The less Susie knew, the better. Still, it was hard to suppress the slight grin pulling at their features. "Anyways, what did you want to ask?"

Susie rolled her own eyes in response, hearing Kris's plea to shift subjects. The sharp smile died down over the next few seconds, anxiety filling her muscles like a rising tub of concrete. "Uh, yeah, so… I kind of… it might be kinda weird, I guess, but I was wondering if... "

Her words stuttered to an anxious halt. Kris had to bite their tongue, forgoing the friendly teasing of comparing her to Ralsei in favor of just giving her whatever time she needed. The path through the forest was long enough, and Kris wasn't worried enough about the late hour to rush Susie.

Eventually, the girl let out a short huff of air, forcing her question out of her mouth with a rapidly deteriorating confidence. "I was wondering if it'd be cool, with you, if I hang out with Ralsei, uh… alone? Tomorrow. I mean."

While Kris did their best to keep their reaction tame for Susie's sake, it was impossible not to raise their eyebrow a little at Susie's request. She was _really_ thumbing the scarf Ralsei had given her; Kris had to wonder if that was either a nervous habit or her trying to siphon off whatever confidence the cloth might've given her.

"Um," Kris began. Despite what the past few days (or weeks? They couldn't always remember.) might've implied, Kris didn't know how to react to such a question. "Of course? You don't need my permission, Susie."

Susie stumbled for some kind of response, trying to backtrack on her obvious anxiety in a way that Kris was more than familiar with. "Oh, right, yeah. Duh. I know that. I just, y'know… figured that I should let you know, or something."

The monster feigned a cough into the shoulder of her tank-top. "I just didn't wanna seem like an ass for leaving you out, or, y'know… uh, weird."

Kris shook their head, doing their best to give a reassuring smile. They had doubts about their expression's effectiveness, though not for lack of effort. "It's okay, Susie. We don't have to do _everything_ together. And I know how much you like him."

Unsure, Susie's eyes lingered on Kris. The trust between them was there, obviously, but Susie's inexperience with a vocal Kris wasn't helping the usual anxieties that came with her ineptitude with friends. Her chest rose in the air in a deep sigh rivaling the winds up above the trees.

"Cool," she breathed out. They stepped in silence for a short while after, seeing Hometown not too far ahead of them. Kris always thought the path back was longer each time they walked it.

"...it's not weird, right?" Susie asked, even quieter than before. Kris pursed their lips, not expecting the question. Though, understanding Susie gave Kris enough knowledge of her insecurities to know that the question wasn't for no reason. "Like, it's normal to just hang out with him alone, right? He's just really cool. It's not weird or anything."

There was a palpable desperation on the girl's expression. Kris waited for a few moments, mulling over what to say and deciding to go with their gut.

"It's not weird," Kris told her. Their shoes slowed to match the shorter steps Susie had subconsciously adopted. "Like I said, it's okay to like him. You guys get along really well. I think he'd like the date."

That seemed to trip the bear trap. Susie's pace grinded to a halt, inciting Kris to do the same. A mixture of shock and sudden anger flashed on her features, which would've been a lot more intimidating if it wasn't for the burning blush deepening her freckles. Rather than any explosive denial or violent outburst, Susie clenched her claws at her sides and relaxed them a few times.

"I _never said-"_ she began, her voice as level as it was quiet. Despite the obvious restraint Susie was employing, Kris didn't get the idea that they were in any real danger outside of some draconic shouting shattering their eardrums. Susie didn't allow herself to yell, only speaking like she was trying to pacify an opponent that had just attacked Ralsei. "It is _not_ a _date."_

Kris's gaze lingered on Susie, noticing how she was struggling to avoid thumbing the scarf wrapped around her neck. Again, Kris opted to speak honestly, though had to hope that Susie wouldn't misread their intentions. "It doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be. But there's nothing wrong with it if it is."

Susie took another deep breath, now sounding more like she was trying to calm her nerves rather than prepare herself for an awkward question. Her claws eventually relaxed with the rest of her posture. The monster's reddened expression was another story.

"It's not a date," she repeated. It sounded like she was talking more to herself than Kris. "I'm just hanging out with a really cool friend. That's it."

Like a robot, she forced her legs into motion, continuing the path through the forest. Kris followed once more. Part of them wanted to reassure Susie, though another part was still surprised that she reacted to the notion so defiantly. With how she'd casually given Ralsei her jacket (compounded with how readily Ralsei gave her his scarf), Kris had thought that she had gotten more comfortable with how she felt around Ralsei. Maybe she wasn't as aware of how outward her emotions had gotten as Kris had assumed.

Silence reigned once again as the human and the monster walked through the forest, now considerably quicker. Tree branches swayed above them as the sky continued dimming, more and more specks of light dotting the blue. Susie's rushed pace had slowed in tandem, as did the tense brace of her muscles she'd forced herself to hold. Though, the length of her hair blocked whatever expression Kris might've been able to see. Just as Kris thought to clarify what they'd meant by "liking Ralsei," Susie suddenly stopped in place. Her snout raised itself to the sky as she let her head roll back into her scarf, a deep huff of air rumbling through her entire torso like a groaning train. Curious, Kris stopped as well.

"Goddamint," Susie muttered to herself. Based on experience, Kris expected her to yell some directionless frustration into the sky, but no such call left her lips. The girl shook her head, looking back to the human with a persistent blush that wasn't quite concealed in the night's dimness. "Look, even if it _was_ a date-"

Her words fell to an abrupt halt. Kris waited patiently, trying to both pay polite attention and not stare at Susie's nonplussed frustration. It was an interesting expression. After three attempts at saying something, Susie forced her voice into motion like a cat into a bathtub. "All I'm saying, is- look, I just want to hang out with him, okay? He's fun. To hang out with."

Kris nodded. "I understand," was all they said in return.

Susie nodded back matter-of-factly. "Right, and like, I'm not saying I wanna date him, or anything… weird, like that, but…"

Her voice picked up speed, not quite brisk or loud with confidence, but still brimming with a vulnerable honesty that preemptively interrupted Kris. "I mean, you've seen how fun he can be, right? Nice, too, and he's still that nice with _me_ of all people… plus, y'know, his stories are great, and he just… cares so much about _everyone,_ y'know? He makes you feel… good, and special, and safe, and…"

The list drifted off into quiet, countered by the few chirps of grasshoppers hiding in the grass around them. Cautious, Kris waited, uncertain as to how long Susie had been waiting to gush over Ralsei. Probably since Ralsei had given her his scarf. Kris filled in the gap for Susie, reading her expression.

"...loved?"

Susie's eyes drifted towards the human, a rare softness in the slits of her pupils. "...yeah. Loved."

Her expression had gotten so serene over so few words that Kris had to assume some part of her fluster earlier was forced. Susie allowed herself to relax, eyes moving to the grass underfoot as she continued unimpeded. "And he can just be so _sweet,_ y'know? Like when he was asking about our favorite cake flavors, or when he picked those flowers, or when he gave me his scarf…"

There was an audible pause in Susie's words as she moved a claw to her new scarf. A gentle smile revealed some of her mouth's golden teeth, though the rest of her expression countered the dangerous nature of her fangs. "Thanks for being cool about the whole 'trading clothes' thing, by the way."

Kris smirked at the memory, knowing Susie didn't fake some Lightener tradition intending to mess with Ralsei. Admittedly, they'd _considered_ throwing Susie into the deep end, but seeing how her guard melted around Ralsei, it probably wouldn't be too long before the story would just get laughed off with him in company.

Leaning into the plush fabric of her scarf, Susie spoke again, devoid of any bluster that she had only minutes ago. "And, y'know how when, sometimes after a fight, his glasses get kinda crooked, and he doesn't even notice, or those little tufts of fur push his hat up a little, he's just… I dunno, huggable, I think? Like he looks like an oversized plushie or something. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

There was another word Susie might've wanted to say, though she might as well have already said it in tandem. Kris allowed their grin to widen, listening to their friend's candor. "So, yeah, who wouldn't wanna hang out with him? But…"

The monster's features suddenly fell, and she looked to the ground with an unfamiliar regret, as unexpected as it was out of place. "...I-I dunno man, like… yeah, I like Ralsei. I like him a helluva lot. But… he's awesome, and sweet, and I can't like him _that_ much, 'cause I'm just…"

Kris's brow furrowed, realizing why Susie was so opposed to their terminology as she finished speaking. "I'm just me."

The last syllable almost got lost to the wind around them as Susie huddled into her scarf. Leaves swayed in the breeze, their reds and yellows dimmed in the moon's light. Kris felt their mouth open almost instinctively.

"Don't sell yourself short," they assured Susie. Her yellow eyes moved up a fraction as the human moved closer, speaking honestly. "You're nicer than you think. And like I said, you and Ralsei really get along. He might not notice it, but I know he likes you as much as you like him, if not more."

Susie seemed hesitant to take Kris's word, though that felt more due to a lack of confidence than a lack of trust. "What makes you say that?" she asked. Hearing the tinge of hope in her voice, Kris continued.

"Well, you've seen him, haven't you? How much he smiles when he's around you, or how he pretends not to stare at you in-between fights…"

Kris had to grin at the memories. "He's not really good at being secretive."

Neither was Susie, but Kris didn't want her to miss their point and decided to leave that part out. Apparently, she missed the point anyways, now looking to the side in a frustrated pout. "I mean, come on, he's _always_ smiling, and- wait, stares at me? What do you mean?"

The latter half of Susie's statement was so much more incredulous that it might as well have come from a completely different person. Kris had to suppress a laugh at how quick her brain was to get attached to the notion.

"Yeah. I'm kind of surprised you don't notice." Kris nonchalantly moved to adjust their shirt's collar, faking a disinterested tone. "Especially since you look at him so much yourself."

Susie couldn't quite contain the surprise on her face. If she had heard Kris's last comment, she didn't show it. "...huh," she let out. The handful of apprehensions and insecurities were gone from her features, replaced by a bashful disbelief as she digested the fact. "Why's that, you figure?"

Kris rolled their red eyes again. Part of Susie's question was knowing, though there was a genuine edge of skepticism that pushed Kris further. "Come on, you know why. Do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

Susie almost answered Kris's question, though she was too preoccupied with trying to both indulge in and deny the implicit compliment to say much beyond mumbling to herself. Seeing the persistence of Susie's glumness, Kris opened their mouth again.

"I meant what I said, Susie." They put as much honesty into their tone as they could; not just in trying to make the most of their voice while they had it, but in trying to help their friend. "You guys both like each other a lot. I'm not saying you have to date him, but if you want to, it wouldn't be weird, or bad, or anything like that. I think you and Ralsei are good for each other."

The assurance hung in the air for some time. Kris watched carefully as Susie let herself out of her scarf, hands moving back up to the pink. Even her freckles seemed hopeful. "You really think so?"

"I do," Kris replied. The simplicity of their assurance gave Susie enough confidence for a slight smile to grow on her features. There was a mandatory handful of seconds as she let herself realize Kris's message. Then she reanimated herself, stepping next to Kris and wasting no time in putting a rough hand on their back, nearly knocking them over from the force.

"You gotta speak up more often, dude!" she exclaimed, reclaiming her boisterous nature like it'd never been lost in the first place. Kris struggled to regain their breath, but it was impossible not to smile even a little at Susie's spirits.

"H-ha," they tried laughing in between coughs. "I'll see what I can do."

Susie nodded affirmation, crossing her arms with a deep breath of air. The night had finally settled into its dimness, though both the human's and the monster's eyes had adjusted well enough. Seeing Kris shake off Susie's roughness, the girl resumed their walk back home, being followed shortly after. A few seconds passed as they looked about the last couple of trees denoting the forest's edge.

"Thanks, Kris," Susie eventually told them. Kris looked up to her features, a pleasant smile now pushing her cheeks. Wide, but still honest. "I kinda… suck at talking, but I appreciate what you said. A lot. You're a good friend."

It was Kris's turn at being surprised. The human blinked, not expecting the candor. A smile bloomed on their own features like a flower, and they nodded one last time.

"You too."


End file.
